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 →