Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad tours the Biddawi oil terminal in the northern city of Tripoli on Tuesday. Mr Fayad launched two projects in the country’s north on Tuesday to facilitate the flow of natural gas from Egypt. Photo: AP
Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad tours the Biddawi oil terminal in the northern city of Tripoli on Tuesday. Mr Fayad launched two projects in the country’s north on Tuesday to facilitate the flow of natural gas from Egypt. Photo: AP
Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad tours the Biddawi oil terminal in the northern city of Tripoli on Tuesday. Mr Fayad launched two projects in the country’s north on Tuesday to facilitate the flow
Lebanon has said work will begin on its project to revive the Arab Gas Pipeline and receive natural gas from Egypt.
It comes as Lebanon is reeling from crippling electricity shortages. The pipeline has been out of service in Lebanon since before Syria’s 10-year conflict began in 2011.
Authorities hope the move will improve electricity production and expand the country’s tanks to increase oil reserves.
Energy Minister Walid Fayad said Egypt’s Technical Gas Services will begin renovation work on the pipeline inside Lebanon within days and the project should be done in a little more than two months.
Egypt has agreed to supply Lebanon with natural gas to its power plants through Jordan and Syria. Syrian experts have finished work inside the war-torn country. The Syrian government is under US and Western sanctions for its role in the war, which has left nearly half a million killed and disappeared and about half of the population displaced.
Despite the sanctions, the US has supported the resumption of natural gas flow from Egypt to Lebanon via Syria.
Mr Fayad said during a tour of an oil terminal that US officials who have visited Lebanon said the contract to bring gas from Egypt will not be affected by sanctions because “no cash is going from any side to Syria.”
He said Egyptian officials are in contact with the Americans to make sure that the contract does not breach the sanctions.
Mr Fayad said about 650 million cubic metres of gas will be brought to Lebanon through the pipeline annually to the Deir Ammar power station in the north. He said the amount will lead to the production of 450 megawatts of electricity adding three to four hours of electricity supplies a day.
Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad launched the project to upgrade and build new tanks to store oil products in Tripoli. Photo: AP
He said the cost will be about 7.5 to 8 cents per kilowatt hour “which is cheaper than any production costs we have.”
Mr Fayad launched the project to upgrade and build new tanks to store oil products in the oil facility in this port city.
In 2019, Lebanon signed a deal with Russia’s largest oil company, Rosneft, to upgrade and operate storage installations in Tripoli. The deal made Rosneft manage storage operations.
Mr Fayad said Rosneft will rehabilitate and build tanks that can fit 150,000 cubic metres of strategic storage and at a later stage it can reach 250,000 cubic metres. Eventually it will fit 400,000 cubic metres.
He said the works will begin with the renovation of three tanks and the building of three new ones. He said the project was expected to take about 18 months.
Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
A discussion website
Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Saturday
Atletico Madrid v Sevilla (3pm)
Alaves v Real Madrid (6.15pm)
Malaga v Athletic Bilbao (8.30pm)
Girona v Barcelona (10.45pm)
Sunday
Espanyol v Deportivo la Coruna (2pm)
Getafe v Villarreal (6.15pm)
Eibar v Celta Vigo (8.30pm)
Las Palmas v Leganes (8.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Valencia (10.45pm)
Monday
Real Betis v Levante (11.pm)
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
2/5
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
