Saudi Arabia

28 March 2022; MEMO: OPEC+ will likely stick to plans for a modest increase in oil output in May, several sources close to the group said, despite a surge in prices due to the Ukraine crisis and calls from the United States and other consumers for more supply, Reuters reports.

Several consuming nations, including the United States, have urged producers to raise their output by more as crude prices have surged, hitting their highest since 2008 this month, at over $139 a barrel.

27 March 2022; MEMO: Microsoft has been accused of being involved in a bribery scheme whereby millions of dollars were paid in illegal bribes in the Middle East and Africa.

According to a former senior director at the firm, Yasser Elabd, the tech giant spent over $200 million a year.

26 March 2022; MEMO: The Houthi group has launched a series of attacks on sites in Saudi Arabia causing great losses, most notably, strikes on Aramco oil tanks in the city of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast.

March 26 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's civil defence has extinguished fires at two fuel storage tanks in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah that were hit in an attack by Yemen's Houthis, state television reported on Saturday.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have escalated missile and drone strikes on the kingdom's oil facilities in recent weeks ahead of a temporary truce for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts early in April.

24 March 2022; MEMO: Saudi oil exports recorded a significant jump of 57.5 per cent on an annual basis, amounting to $8 billion during the month of January.

According to government data, issued by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics, petroleum exports amounted to $22 billion compared to $14 billion in the same month in 2021.

Merchandise exports increased in January 2022 by 49.6 per cent compared to the same month last year.

23 March 2022; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has urged other Arab states to become involved in efforts to combat corruption by joining its anti-corruption network, stating that it is in the interest of developing countries to do so.

Washington, Mar 21 (AP) The US has transferred a significant number of Patriot antimissile interceptors to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks as the Biden administration looks to ease what has been a point of tension in the increasingly complicated US-Saudi relationship.

A senior administration official confirmed Sunday night that the interceptors have been sent to Saudi Arabia.

20 March 2022; MEMO: Houthi rebels in Yemen on Sunday claimed drone and missile attacks on facilities run by oil company Aramco in Saudi Arabia, Anadolu Agency reports.

Rebel spokesman Yahia Sarei tweeted that the attacks targeted Aramco facilities in the capital Riyadh and a number of Saudi regions.

He said the rebel group also struck a number of "vital targets" in southern Saudi Arabia, including the city of Khamis Mushait.

19 March 2022; MEMO: Pakistan is strengthening its intelligence cooperation with Saudi Arabia and achieving more Saudi investments in the defence industry, as discussed at the first World Defence Show earlier this month. Pakistan is also intensifying its partnerships with China.

16 March 2022; MEMO: The United States and Britain are ramping up pressure on Saudi Arabia to pump more oil and join efforts to isolate Russia, while Riyadh has shown little readiness to respond and has revived a threat to ditch dollars in its oil sales to China, Reuters reports.

British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, flew into the world's biggest crude oil exporter on Wednesday, a day after US Security Advisor, Brett McGurk, arrived with a US delegation.