Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oil giant Saudi Aramco said Sunday its net income dropped by $22.9 billion in 2019 to $88.2 billion, a sharp decrease coming as the kingdom stands ready to flood an already-weakened global energy market amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco has been directed by the Ministry of Energy to raise its oil production capacity to 13 million barrels per day (bpd) from 12 million bpd now, the company’s Chief Executive Amin Nasser said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The company is exerting its maximum efforts to implement this directive as soon as possible,” Nasser added.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Shares of Saudi state oil company Aramco (2222.SE) slumped below their initial public offering (IPO) price on Sunday for the first time since they began trading in December, after OPEC’s pact with Russia to restrict oil supplies fell apart on Friday.

Aramco shares were down 6.2% at 30.85 riyals ($8.22) at 0852 GMT, their sharpest percentage fall in a day, and below the IPO price of 32 riyals. The Saudi market .TASI was down 7.4%.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain’s Formula One race this month will be run without spectators over fears about the new coronavirus, the island kingdom announced Sunday, as Mideast stock markets fell sharply amid plummeting demand for crude oil and OPEC’s inability to agree on a production cut.

The decision by Bahrain is just the latest disruption felt by the Mideast over the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes. The wider Mideast now has over 6,200 confirmed cases of the virus, the majority in hard-hit Iran.

DUBAI (Reuters) - A senior member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Farhad Dabirian, was “martyred” in Syria on Friday, Fars news agency reported, without giving details of how he died.

The agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, described Dabirian as a “defender of Sayida Zainab shrine,” the holy Shi’ite Muslim site south of Damascus, and as a former commander of the Guards in Palmyra, the ancient city in central Syria.

DUBAI (Reuters) - United Arab Emirates carrier flydubai swung to a profit of 198.2 million dirham ($54 million) last year, helped by a compensation agreement with Boeing over the worldwide 737 MAX grounding.

The Dubai state-owned airline is one of the world’s biggest MAX customers, though only operated around 14 of the jets when they were grounded in March 2019.

However, its fleet size shrank by more than a quarter to 45 jets last year as it retired older aircraft and new MAX jets were also grounded.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia on Thursday halted travel to the holiest sites in Islam over fears about a viral epidemic just months ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage, a move that came as the Mideast has over 220 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who had urged the public not to overreact about its spread has tested positive for the illness himself, authorities said Tuesday, as new cases emanating from the country rapidly emerged across the Middle East.

Only a day earlier, a coughing and heavily sweating Iraj Harirchi said at a televised news conference in Tehran that “the situation is almost stable in the country.”

DUBAI (Reuters) - Former Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih, who was removed last year, was tapped to head the kingdom’s newly-created investment ministry in a cabinet reshuffle announced on Tuesday that also created new ministries for tourism and sports.

According to royal orders published by state news agency SPA, the ministers of media and civil service were also removed.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The tiny island nation of Bahrain suspended flights on Tuesday to the world’s busiest airport for international travel in Dubai over fears about the spread of the new virus.

The move by Bahrain, a small island off the coast of Saudi Arabia, suggested its monarchy had doubts about screenings of incoming passengers in Dubai and nearby Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. It said the ban was immediate and would last at least 48 hours.