The energy minister for top Opec exporter Saudi Arabia said yesterday he was optimistic about Opec’s deal to limit oil output and mentioned the lower end of a previously agreed production target, helping spur a rally in the price of crude.

Natural gas with its “clean premium” has greater relevance at a time when the world’s attention was focused on fighting climate change, HE the Minister of Energy and Industry, Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, said in Doha yesterday.

HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada has said falling investments will hasten the equilibrium between demand and supply and support gas prices.

British retail sales rose at their fastest annual rate in more than 14 years in October as cold weather and Halloween boosted sales, but economists said Brexit effects were likely to weigh on spending next year.

Trade turnover and volumes were on the decline in the Qatar Stock Exchange but overall its key index added another 33 points for the second day to inch near the 9,800 mark, mainly on domestic institutions’ buying support.

The energy minister of Saudi Arabia said on Thursday he was optimistic about Opec's deal to limit oil output and mentioned the lower end of a previously agreed production target, helping spur a rally in the price of crude.

Iran overtook political rival Saudi Arabia as India's top oil supplier in October, shipping data showed, just ahead of a producers' meeting this month to hammer out the details on output cuts aimed at reining in a global glut.

Doha Bank is planning to raise the capital by 20% through a rights issue by the first half of 2017 in order to meet its strategic business development requirements.

Qatar Development Bank (QDB) wants to tap angel investors to promote Qatar’s entrepreneurship culture and help propel the country’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, an official has said.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies, which have spent two generations depending on its petrodollars, have to necessarily look at speeding up their structural reforms, unless there is a fresh pick-up in oil prices, according to HSBC.

The Middle East will require additional power capacity of 267 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, Siemens has said in its outlook for the energy landscape in the region and noted that natural gas will become its top source for power generation.

Vodafone Qatar has been recognised as ‘Telecom Achiever of the Year’ at the Enterprise Agility Awards 2016 in recognition of the company’s “outstanding performance” over the past year.