Oil prices remained buoyant as markets braced themselves for the possibility of production cuts following signs from Russia it is ready to enter a new deal.
Moscow, whose reluctance to deepen production cuts last month led to the expiration of the Opec+ alliance pact at the end of March, said it could cut as much as 1.6 million barrels per day, or the equivalent of 15 per cent of its output.
Russia's possible contribution is nearly as much as the collective Opec+ deal that was in place for three months from January 1.
Brent futures were trading up 3.56 per cent at $34.01 per barrel at 5.22pm UAE time, while the West Texas Intermediate benchmark was up 4.54 per cent at $26.23 per barrel.
The possibility of a deal has boosted markets, which rounded off the worst quarter on record last week after oil prices lost 70 per cent of their value from their most recent peak in January. A crunch in demand from a near two-month lockdown in China, the early centre of the coronavirus pandemic, prompted early calls for action from Saudi Arabia.
Russia's scepticism over a need to deepen cuts delayed action at the Opec+ meeting in March, with the two sides eventually abandoning output curbs and deciding to increase supply. As prices plunged and US shale producers and refiners facing job losses or bankruptcies, President Donald Trump urged Opec and other producers to cut as much as 15m bpd to stabilise markets.
Global oil demand is expected to contract as much as 24m bpd in April, according to London-based consultancy Facts Global Energy.
UBS expects demand for the current quarter to collapse by 20m bpd, or the equivalent of a 20 per cent reduction year-on-year.
The investment bank expects markets to remain oversupplied in the second quarter in spite of any supply reduction by producers as long as restrictions on movement remain in place in many countries.
Production curbs could slow a build-up in the level of inventories, which have threatened to overwhelm available global storage capacity by May, the bank added.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which pledged to bring 12.3m bpd and 4m bpd to markets respectively in April, will continue to honour their obligations to customers for the month.
"Any agreed production cuts by oil producers will probably only start in May, " said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS.
"This will likely see crude inventories increasing sharply in May as well, considering the time it takes (weeks to months) to send crude on oil tankers from producer to consumer states," he added.
The bank expects Brent and WTI to average $20 per barrel in June, with the benchmarks expected to pick up to $43 and $40 per barrel by December.
The US, the world's largest producer, Brazil, and Norway are expected to be part of discussions in the G20 virtual meeting of energy ministers on Friday.
The interface would mark the first time the US will join any kind of production restriction discussion. It remains unclear how its energy industry, which is made up of thousands of independent producers, is likely to contribute to any reduction.
Russia has insisted on US participation or at least the removal of sanctions on some of its state-backed trading firms. Mr Trump, who initially brokered new talks between Moscow and Riyadh, has since walked back on his comments, even threatening tariffs against oil imports from other producers.
Any global co-ordinated supply cut would only succeed in limiting the downside to prices "ostensibly carving out an artificial oil price floor", said Ehsan Khoman, head of Mena research and strategy at Japanese bank MUFG. The deal is only expected to contain the collapse in prices rather than boosting them significantly, he added.
The bank doesn't rule out Brent going below $20 per barrel this month but, expects the benchmark to revive up to $32 per barrel in the second quarter as the pandemic slows down and concerns over crude oversupply begin to ease.
On Thursday Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said the meeting of producers reduces uncertainty in the markets.
"We have seen a collapse in commodity prices and we’re working expeditiously to provide emergency financing to Nigeria Having less uncertainty in this time helps," she told Bloomberg TV. Anything that can be done to help bring more predictability in the oil markets is helpful."
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
RESULT
Manchester City 5 Swansea City 0
Man City: D Silva (12'), Sterling (16'), De Bruyne (54' ), B Silva (64' minutes), Jesus (88')
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Wonka
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Abu Dhabi World Pro 2019 remaining schedule:
Wednesday April 24: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-6pm
Thursday April 25: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-5pm
Friday April 26: Finals, 3-6pm
Saturday April 27: Awards ceremony, 4pm and 8pm
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
More on Quran memorisation:
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rob%20Marshall%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHalle%20Bailey%2C%20Jonah%20Hauer-King%2C%20Melissa%20McCarthy%2C%20Javier%20Bardem%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SPECS
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S
Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900
Engine: 937cc
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox
Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm
Torque: 93Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
more from Janine di Giovanni
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
ICC T20 Team of 2021
Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Three ways to get a gratitude glow
By committing to at least one of these daily, you can bring more gratitude into your life, says Ong.
- During your morning skincare routine, name five things you are thankful for about yourself.
- As you finish your skincare routine, look yourself in the eye and speak an affirmation, such as: “I am grateful for every part of me, including my ability to take care of my skin.”
- In the evening, take some deep breaths, notice how your skin feels, and listen for what your skin is grateful for.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
