The Engro Corporation announced on Tuesday that it is closing all the company’s offices located in The Harbour Front building in Karachi after one of its employees tested positive for the novel coronavirus. In a statement issued today, Engro said that the employee who was diagnosed with COVID19 had come to the office on March 6 “for only a few…
Read MoreDay: March 10, 2020
Transparency in petroleum prices
International oil prices (Brent crude) fell to $50.52 per barrel in the end of February. The highest peak in recent times was $85 in the last months of 2019 — a godsend for the government and the people of Pakistan. In 2016-17, oil prices came down to this level which greatly benefitted the PML-N government. In the beginning of March,…
Read MoreSix Thoughts on the Collapse of the Oil Market
The collapse of the OPEC+ alliance and Saudi Arabia’s subsequent decision over the weekend to launch an all-out price war in crude has upended markets and further roiled a world already strained by the coronavirus crisis. There will be lasting consequences. Oil prices plummeted 30% when futures trading opened Sunday night, a direct consequence of OPEC and Russia’s failed meeting…
Read MoreCan Saudi Arabia Survive The Oil Price War It Started?
As the world watches an oil price war unfold between Russia, OPEC, and US shale, another major crisis is looming in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is facing multiple existential threats as a renewed oil price slump threatens to not only hit the country’s revenues and economic diversification programs but also the already fragile position of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.…
Read MoreNo mechanism in place for industrial waste’s disposal in
The unchecked burning of solid waste, generated by industrial units, on the sides of Haripur-Taxila road near the Hattar Industrial Estate continues to expose the transporters, commuters and residents of a number of neighbouring localities to multiple health hazards. The rising environmental pollution in the area points to apathy of the authorities concerned and lack of any strategy to address…
Read MoreWhy oil prices are crashing and what it means
London (CNN Business)Oil prices have suffered their biggest fall since the day in 1991 when American forces launched air strikes on Iraqi troops following their invasion of Kuwait.Monday’s crash spooked markets that were already freaking out about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy and demand for oil. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were down 22%, last trading at $35.45 per…
Read MoreRussia’s stronger economy lets Putin stare down OPEC
MOSCOW (Bloomberg) –Vladimir Putin’s resistance to further output cuts has pushed Russia’s accord with the OPEC cartel that controls more than half of the world’s oil production toward breakdown. Some key metrics guiding the Russian economy help explain the president’s reasoning. “Thanks to Russia taking harsh measures earlier, Russia can now afford a lower oil price than five to six…
Read MoreSiemens completes its first solar project in Pakistan
Siemens completed the grid connection for Gharo Solar Ltd.’s 50-megawatt solar plant in the Thatta district in Pakistan’s Sindh Province through a 132 kilovolt (kV) grid station. Clean energy from the plant will feed into K-Electric’s power grid. This was the first contract that Siemens has completed for a solar power plant in Pakistan. The grid station is equipped with…
Read MoreACWA Power, Uzbekistan Ministry Sign US$2.5 Billion Energy Security Agreements
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM – 08th Mar, 2020) ACWA Power has announced the signing of three new strategic agreements, potentially worth up to US$2.5 billion, with the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan to amplify power generation and develop technical expertise. The agreements include a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement, PPA, and Investment Agreement – with a…
Read MoreRashakai Economic Zone’s units to get cheap electricity: secy
Secretary Energy and Power, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mohammad Zubair Khan has said that the provincial government would supply cheap electricity produced from the resources of the province to the industrial units of the Rashakai Economic Zone through wheeling charges. He expressed these views while speaking in a progress review meeting on the energy sector projects initiated under China Pakistan Economic Corridor…
Read More