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Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman held a meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss deepening cooperation across several sectors, including energy, investment, and trade , according to the Saudi state news agency, SPA. During the meeting, Li urged both Beijing and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) —which includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—to accelerate negotiations on a free trade agreement. This statement was made in a meeting with GCC Secretary General Jasem al-Budaiwi , as reported by Chinese state news agency Xinhua. The SPA reported that al-Budaiwi emphasized the need to move forward and finalize the trade talks "in the near future." However, free trade negotiations have stalled due to Saudi Arabia's concerns over low-cost Chinese imports . Sources told Reuters in May that the talks were at an impasse, with Saudi Arabia worried that a flood of cheaper Chinese products could undermine its plans to develop dom...

Has oil bottom? The oil price seems to have bottom after a 20-month collapse as the oil market shown some strength in its rally to go up as much as 6% on Monday. Speculation about the falling U.S shale output has been the main drive for the rally. Friday's U.S rig count data has been one of the reason for the market reaction as prices began the week with a rebound in Asian trade. The data points to a drop in the number of oil drilling rigs in operations to a December 2009 low after there have been nine consecutive weeks of cut. The statement by International Energy Agency, the world's oil consumer body in regards to U.S shale oil production to fall by 600,000 barrels per day this year and another 200,000 barrels per day in 2017 also helped the oil rally. U.S. crude futures settled up by $1.84, or 6 percent, at $31.48 a barrel, rallying above $32 at one point. Futures of Brent finished up $1.68, or 5 percent, at $34.69. HAS OIL BOTTOM? This is the difficult questio...

The oil madness is causing haywire in the market. Just look at the headlines of the financial news, journals, blogs, or research reports and you'll see how volatile the market is because of the oil price. Here's a recap of some of the causes of the oil movement recently... 1) Oil price gain as news on Russia-Saudi meeting to discuss on oil production were released. The subsequent decision to lead a freeze production encouraged the oil rally. 2) Oil price dropped as concern over the participation of Iran. If Iran chose not to join in the production freeze, it'll not be sufficient to control the overwhelming supply of oil and thus the oil price's drop might continue. 3) Oil rally again once Iran made a remark on "supporting" the Russia-Saudi led production freeze even though the market was not sure the "support" equivalent to "action". 4) Oil eases again now that a U.S. government report showing a rise in crude stocks underlined...

The financial market is being very volatile, partly influenced by the oil price's volatility. But unlike last week, we have a more positive news circulating the financial world....Saudi to meet Russia in Doha on Tuesday, to discuss the market. Saudi meeting Russia to talk about oil this Tuesday could be the salvation This good news definitely is shared by the global market as most markets seen an uptrend after a bad week last week.  Oil advances above $30 on the news Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al- Naimi will speak with his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak in the Qatari capital. This is an interesting development given that Iran is getting into the game as well. Oil is still down about 17 percent this year BP Plc predicts the market will remain “tough and choppy” in the first half as it contends with a surplus of 1 million barrels a day. Speculators’ long positions in West Texas Intermediate through Feb. 9 rose to the highest since June, according to data from ...

Saudi Arabia is not afraid of low oil price and this will send the already gloomy oil & gas industry even further downwards. Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is maintaining investment in oil and natural gas projects and has formulated a new strategy in response to cheaper crude as it studies options to sell shares in its parent company and downstream refining and chemical operations, Chairman Khalid Al-Falih said Monday at a conference in Riyadh. The state-run producer, known as Saudi Aramco, can sustain low oil prices for “a long, long time,” he told reporters. It is a signal that the Saudi is sending across....that this is a fight they will not lose.  “Saudi Arabia is well-documented to be the clear lowest-cost producer -- we have scale, capabilities, and technology to help us maintain our low cost as we go forward,” he said.  He also mentioned how the company encourage fiscal discipline and in the company's investments capacity, oil and gas had not slowed down. LOW...