Actors in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, especially Saudi Arabia and Morocco, are gaining a strategic foothold in the lithium ion battery supply chain, according to Benchamrk Mineral Intelligence. Through various policy approaches utilising state support and industrial policy and taking advantage of geopolitical trends, these countries... Read more →
NIO entered into a share subscription agreement with CYVN Holdings, through its affiliate CYVN Investments RSC, an investment vehicle based in Abu Dhabi, pursuant to which CYVN will invest an aggregate of US$2.2 billion in cash to subscribe for 294,000,000 newly issued Class A ordinary shares of Nio at a... Read more →
Neste and ENOC Group, a leading integrated global energy player, have agreed to collaborate to explore the possibilities of supplying and purchasing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Dubai and the wider Middle East North Africa (MENA) region in the coming years. By leveraging the expertise of Neste as the world’s... Read more →
NEOM, the smart and sustainable regional development in northwest Saudi Arabia, is investing US$100 million, through the NEOM Investment Fund (NIF), into Pony.ai, a leading global autonomous driving company. Additionally, a joint venture will be established for autonomous technology solutions for the region. Through the joint venture, NEOM and Pony.ai... Read more →
thyssenkrupp Uhde has been awarded a contract by ENOWA, NEOM’s energy and water company, for engineering services and the supply, design and procurement of equipment for a new CO2-to-methanol and methanol-to-gasoline demonstration plant at ENOWA’s Hydrogen Innovation and Development Center (HIDC) in Saudi Arabia. The plant is a joint development... Read more →
ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing LLC (EMCL) has licensed its advanced fluid bed Methanol-to-Gasoline (MTG) technology to Aramco for a demonstration-scale unit to be located in NEOM’s Hydrogen Innovation and Development Center. Aramco plans to use the ExxonMobil technology to convert renewable methanol into renewable synthetic gasoline. Renewable synthetic gasoline has... Read more →
Hyundai Motor Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KATECH), Air Products Qudra (APQ) and the Saudi Public Transport Company (SAPTCO) to establish and develop an ecosystem for hydrogen-based mobility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The parties have agreed to cooperate in establishing a... Read more →
Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR), in partnership with Alstom, a global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, is operating and demonstrating the hydrogen-powered Coradia iLint train (earlier post) in Riyadh in October. This demonstration marks the first introduction of a hydrogen-powered train in the Middle East and Africa. The collaboration between... Read more →
Archer Aviation, a developer of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, entered into an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) pursuant to which the parties intend to work together to make Abu Dhabi Archer’s first international launch partner, with plans to commence air taxi operations in Abu... Read more →
Wallan Trading Company, a market leader in the Saudi automotive industry, is partnering with Zeekr Automotive to bring premium electric vehicles to Saudi Arabia. This collaboration aligns with the Saudi Arabian government’s Vision 2030, which mandates that 30% of the cars in Riyadh will be fully electric by 2030. Zeekr,... Read more →
Lucid Group has officially opened the first car manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia. As Lucid’s second Advanced Manufacturing Plant (AMP-2) and first international plant, the facility will produce Lucid’s electric vehicles for Saudi Arabia and export to other markets. The AMP-2 facility received significant support from the Ministry of Investment... Read more →
RINA, the inspection, certification and consulting engineering multinational, and AFRY, a European leader in engineering, design, and advisory services, have undertaken an initial study of how the Gulf region and Europe could be linked directly with a pipeline to transport low-carbon hydrogen. The results suggest a transformative opportunity to unlock... Read more →
Saudi Arabia has cut a number of deals recently that coud make the country’s lithiu-ion supply chain the most developed in the Middle East, according to an analysis by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. Saudi Arabia’s ambitions for an EV supply chain are part of the diversification of the national economy away... Read more →
NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC)—an equal joint venture by ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM—announced that following signing financial documents with 23 local, regional, and international banks, and investment firms, it has now achieved financial close on the world’s largest green hydrogen production facility at a total investment value of... Read more →
Poland-based Hynfra has signed a framework cooperation agreement with Amarenco MENA, a major developer of renewable energy projects in the Middle East and North Africa and part of Amarenco Group. The strategic partnership is aimed at building infrastructure for the production of hydrogen and its derivatives, primarily ammonia, using electrolysis... Read more →
Iran’s Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade recently announced that the country has discovered its first lithium reserve, in Qahavand in Hamedan province. The reserve is believed to hold 8.4 million tons of lithium; if realized, this would rank Iran behind Chile (11 millions tons) and ahead of Australia (7.9... Read more →
At the 45th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) and the 33rd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting (OPEC+) in Vienna, the organizations decided to cut crude oil production by 2 million barrels per day (mb/d), starting in November 2022. The adjustment will reduce OPEC+ production from 43,856 million... Read more →
In late November, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) announced the start of development of the vast Jafurah unconventional gas field, the largest non-associated gas field in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Company has awarded subsurface and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts worth $10 billion, with capital expenditure... Read more →
Saudi Aramco and its affiliates signed 12 agreements with major South Korean companies to reinforce relationships with South Korea, expand international operations, and support the region’s energy security with the expansion of Arabian crude oil supply to Asian markets. Among these agreements is a partnership with Hyundai Motor on hydrogen.... Read more →
The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC), a non-profit entity established by Masdar Institute that is part of Khalifa University of Science and Technology, announced the world’s first commercial flight using locally produced sustainable fuel on an Etihad Airways Boeing 787 powered by GE’s GEnx-1B engines. (Earlier post.) The flight from... Read more →
EMT, the transport company of the Spanish capital Madrid, is set to receive another 276 Mercedes-Benz Citaro NGT urban buses with natural gas drive in the next two years. This will be the fourth major order from Madrid in quick succession. EMT placed its first order two years ago for... Read more →
Emirates Transport (ET), the UAE government owned public transport provider, recently launched the final phase of testing for the first electric-powered school bus in the region. The 45-seater bus was manufactured in close cooperation with the Shanghai Sunwin Bus Cooperation. During the pilot phase, the bus will operate on full... Read more →
by Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com OPEC exports have come under pressure this week from technical threats to oil fields, with Saudi Arabia’s Manifa problems grabbing the headlines. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, while addressing the World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul, stated that the outlook for oil supplies is “increasingly worrying”,... Read more →
Toyota Motor Corporation has agreed to collaborate with Masdar, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Air Liquide, and Toyota distributor Al-Futtaim Motors in a joint research program to explore the potential of hydrogen energy use in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the creation of a sustainable, low-carbon society. As... Read more →
by Gaurav Agnihotri for Oilprice.com The undisputed king of oil and gas is making some moves that could change the face of the global refining sector. In June 2015, Saudi Arabia pumped a record 10.564 million barrels a day, a record level. As if being the world’s biggest exporter of... Read more →
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has named the winners of its Global Research Partnership (GRP) Investigator competition. Twelve international scientists—among them Dr. Yi Cui at Stanford (silicon nanowires for li-ion batteries) and Dr. Bruce Logan at Penn State (microbial fuel cells)—were selected as KAUST... Read more →
Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) will begin the production of dual-fuel gasoline-compressed natural gas cars in late July. IKCO is the largest vehicle manufacturer in Iran and the Middle East, and builds cars and commercial vehicles for domestic use and for export. Iran is facing a gasoline shortage. Riots erupted in... Read more →
Despite being home to 65% of the world’s oil reserves, pressure to improve air quality and maximize crude oil revenues is driving Middle Eastern governments to implement alternative fuel schemes that dwarf many of those in oil-dependent nations. Government and private organizations in Egypt, Iran, United Arab Emirates and other... Read more →
Bloomberg. China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer, plans to spend $3 billion on refinery units capable of processing lower-quality, high-sulfur (“sour”) crude oil from the Middle East. In return, the country hopes to be able to cut its current annual oil import bill by as much as 20%. Oil higher... Read more →
