Crude prices have made up the ground they lost earlier this week, bouncing back on news of Chinese government plans to boost stockpiles of economically strategic materials.
Addressing the National People's Congress in Beijing on Wednesday, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, said China would "significantly increase" investments this year in commodities such as crude oil and petroleum products to counter the country's economic slowdown.
Analysts said Beijing's oil purchases would help mop up excess crude that had been stored at sea in tankers while major onshore storage depots worldwide have been filled nearly to capacity.
"This has buoyed the market a lot," said Dalton Garis, an assistant professor of economics at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi. "We could see oil at US$50 a barrel fairly soon."
Crude pulled back towards $44 a barrel yesterday, after touching $45.70 on Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its highest level in more than a month. But fresh data confirming economic contraction in the EU, along with expectations that the US government would report higher unemployment in the world's biggest economy, failed to claw back prices to the $40 level plumbed on Monday.
In another noteworthy development, the discount for the North American benchmark crude relative to European and Omani crudes shrunk to less than $1 a barrel, well below the roughly $10 a barrel spreads reached when brimming stockpiles at the main US storage depot at Cushing, Oklahoma, became a major concern to oil traders. The Oman crude oil futures contract on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange closed yesterday at $44.49.
US crude inventories declined for a second week, according to government figures released on Wednesday, falling by 700,000 barrels to 350.6 million barrels for the week ending Feb 27 instead of increasing as analysts had predicted.
Another factor that could bolster oil prices is a growing expectation that OPEC will decide on a further production cut at its March 15 meeting.
In a development that some interpreted as a strong signal of Saudi intent to support the market by pumping less oil, the state-owned Saudi Aramco on Wednesday raised its official selling prices for crude to be shipped under term contracts in April.
Saudi Arabia, OPEC's biggest oil producer, has an overarching influence on the organisation's decisions. However, the OPEC president, Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, said the group would "evaluate the situation" before deciding whether to cut again.
@Email:tcarlisle@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
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The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?
The Orwell Prize for Political Writing
Twelve books were longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The non-fiction works cover various themes from education, gender bias, and the environment to surveillance and political power. Some of the books that made it to the non-fiction longlist include:
- Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
- Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
- Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims by Hussein Kesvani
- Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
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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
Mrs%20Chatterjee%20Vs%20Norway
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