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Good morning, friends, and happy Hump Day to you all.
BUT FIRST- Aramco’s run of positive (for shareholders) news continues. Energy Minister Prince Abdel Aziz bin Salman said Aramco has discovered seven oil and gas deposits in the Eastern Province and Empty Quarter, according to a statement by the ministry yesterday. He said Aramco discovered two unconventional gas fields, a reservoir of Arabian light crude oil, two natural gas fields, and two natural gas reservoirs.
What we don’t know: The size of the discoveries. The ministry made no mention of estimated reserves in place.
AND A QUICK PROGRAMMING NOTE- EnterpriseAM Saudi is off this coming Thursday, 4 July. We take a small handful of publication breaks in summer, around holidays, and in the final week of the year to retool and plan new things. You’ll see us in your inbox tomorrow morning, and we’re then off until Sunday, 7 July.
HAPPENING TODAY-
Housing Minister Majed Al Hogail is in Turkey for a three-day visit that will see talks with Turkish officials in real estate development, infrastructure, and waste management and recycling, state news agency SPA reports. He last visited Ankara a year ago, when SAudi and Turkish companies inked a series of cooperation agreements.
WEATHER- Expect windy weather in Riyadh with a daytime high of 44°C. Madinah will also see wind and a high of 40°C, while Jeddah can expect a daytime high of 41°C. Look for overnight lows to skim 29°C in all three cities.
HAPPENING TOMORROW-
The eight-week Esports World Cup will open tomorrow and run through Sunday, 25 August Riyadh’s Boulevard City. It will see the world’s best esports clubs competing for a pool of USD 60 mn — the largest purse in esports.
M&A WATCH-
#1- Saudi Investment Bank says it isn’t in talks to sell a stake to Kuwait Finance House: The Saudi Investment Bank (Saib) said it was not involved in “any discussions in relation to any mergers or acquisitions,” according to a disclosure to Tadawul by the lender.
BACKGROUND- The statement follows whispers by Bloomberg last week that Kuwait’s largest bank was considering the acquisition of a significant stake in Saudi Investment Bank. KFH later issued a statement saying only that it was “conducting careful studies” of a potential expansion tinto Saudi, including looking at “more than one bank” in which it might take a stake.
#2- WakeCap has acquired Silicon Vallye-based Crews by Core as WakeCap looks to set up an R&D base in the US, WakeCap said in a statement. Both companies offer digital project management solutions for companies working on megaprojects. WakeCap already operates in the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Japan.
What we don’t know: Just how much of Crews by Core will WakeCap acquire and what that stake is worth. WakeCap’s clients include Aramco, Emaar, Adnoc, Enppi, and Besix, among others. Its CEO is Hassan Albalawi, a member of the prominent Saudi family.
DATA POINTS-
#1- Aramco dividends push Sama’s foreign reserves to 18-month high: The Saudi Central Bank’s (Sama) net foreign assets jumped 5% y-o-y in May to SAR 1.67 tn — its highest since November 2022, according to Sama’s figures (pdf). The increase was driven by state-owned Aramco’s huge dividend payments during 1H 2024, which included USD 25 bn paid in May to the government, according to Bloomberg. Sama receives the government’s dividends from Aramco.
#2- Spending by foreign tourists in Saudi grew 22.9% y-o-y to SAR 45 bn (c. USD 12 bn) in 1Q 2024 — the second-highest quarterly level ever, Mubasher reported, citing data compiled from Saudi Central Bank (Sama). The record for spending in a single quarter stands at SAR 48.9 bn in 2Q 2023.
Saudi tourists are spending more abroad: Spending by Saudi tourists abroad was up 3.9% y-o-y during the quarter to c. SAR 21 bn, and increase from SAR 20.2 bn in the same period last year.
IN CONTEXT: 2023 was a “record-breaking” year for Saudi’s travel and tourism industry, with the sector growing more than 32% to contribute a record SAR 444.3 bn to the Kingdom’s GDP. Tourist spending was also on the rise, with spending by foreign visitors reaching a record SAR 227.4 bn, while local visitors’ spending grew 21.5% y-o-y in 2023 to SAR 142.5 bn.
OIL WATCH-
Aramco maintained the official selling prices (or “OSP,” in industry-speak) for liquefied petroleum gas in July, Reuters reported. July OSPs for propane and butane were unchanged at USD 580 per metric ton and USD 565 per ton.
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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-
US, British and French politics continue to push markets off the front pages of the global business press.
Not much has changed since yesterday: Democrats are still losing it over contentions that Joe Biden is too old to run for president. Top party officials held a call with key donors late yesterday to try to shore up their financial base. The FT sums up the current state of the debate nicely: There’s a growing sense among “donors, consultants, and operatives that Biden is no longer fit to challenge Donald Trump for the presidency and should make way for a younger candidate.”
And it could get messy, the paper says, noting there’s “anger at the president’s family and close circle of advisers for concealing his condition and their unwillingness to countenance his exit from White House race.”
Across the pond: Keir Starmer’s Labour party still leads Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives by 20 points or so in polls. And the horse-trading continues in France, as other parties look to block the far-right Rassemblement National from running away with parliament in second-phase voting due next week.
MEANWHILE- The US Supreme Court ruled that Trump has broad immunity for official (but not necessarily personal) actions he took while in office — a finding that almost ensures he won’t face trial before November on charges that he tried to usurp the 2020 election.
ENTERTAINMENT-
The eighth season of MBC’s Arabic-language version of Top Chef will move to Neom, according to a statement. Neom Media Village will be home to the show for the next few months. The new season of the culinary competition will have an ecological spin and will again feature guest judges from Michelin-starred restaurants. The show will air on MBC Group properties later this year.
CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
This year’s edition of security-focused expo Intersec Saudi Arabia will open from Tuesday, 1 October to Thursday, 3 October at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. The expo is expected to bring in over 350 exhibitors from 27 countries and 17k visitors and showcase latest technologies in security and safety industries by global suppliers.
