Good morning, wonderful people. It’s a relatively busy hump day here in the Kingdom, despite there being a lack of blockbuster news this morning. Instead, we have a patchwork of M&A agreements in the works and a fresh mining license under Amak’s belt leading this morning’s news well.

⚠️ WEATHER- Residents of Al Baha, Jazan, and Hail have downpours and strong winds in the cards for today. Meanwhile, Riyadh’s mercury will peak at 46°C, before dropping to a low of 30°C, and Dammam wil see a high of 47°C, and a low of 31°C.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Chinese food delivery platform Keeta wants to come to Saudi: Keeta, a subsidiary of China-based food delivery outfit Meituan, has applied for a license to operate in the Kingdom, Aleqtisadiah reports. Meituan advertised eight Riyadh-based job openings online back in April.

#2- Madinah launched a tender to establish and operate an aluminum, glass, and cladding factory in Badr’s industrial zone under a 15-year term contract, state news agency SPA reported. Interested contractors will have until Tuesday, 27 August to submit their bids.

DATA POINT-

State-run domestic worker recruitment platform Musaned processed more than 412k contracts for foreign workers in 1H 2024, the Human Resources and Social Development Ministry said in a post on X. The ministry did not give a comparable figure for the same period last year.

OIL WATCH-

The Kingdom’s crude oil exports to China are set to drop to 43 mn barrels in September, down from the 46 mn barrels currently penciled in for August, Reuters reports, citing monthly allocations for term buyers.

What gives? Saudi Aramco hiked the September price of its flagship Arab Light product to Asian buyers last week by USD 0.20, placing it USD 2 / bbl above the regional Oman-Dubai benchmark.

The details: China’s PetroChina and Fujian refineries plan to decrease their loadings of Saudi crude in September on the back of the increase. Meanwhile, Sinopec — Asia’s largest refiner — will ramp up loadings of Saudi crude during the period, the newswire quoting unnamed sources.

!_InserLine_!

Opec+ has trimmed its outlook for growth in global oil demand in 2024 and 2025 on the back of expectations of softened demand in China, according to the group’s monthly report (pdf). The oil cartel now sees oil demand rising by 2.1 mn barrels per day (bbl / d) this year to 104.3 mn bbl / d, down from its previous forecast of a 2.25 mn bbl / d increase.

The 2025 forecast: Opec+ has also revised down next year’s demand growth for crude oil, penciling in a 1.78 mn bbl / d increase, down from 1.85 mn bbl / d.

SPORTS-

#1- The Saudi Women’s Premier League will kick off Friday, 27 September, according to a post on X. This season’s champion will bag SAR 2 mn, with second place securing SAR 1.5 mn, and third SAR 1 mn, it said in a separate post on X.

#2- Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr will not be joining the Saudi Pro League, the NYT reports. The footballer had received an offer from a delegation of the PIF in a bid to make him “ the face of the league ahead of the 2034 World Cup.”

#3- Second tier football club Neom SC has submitted an official bid for Egyptian football club Zamalek’s Zizou (watch, runtime: 0:30). No further information was provided.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The rising imminence of Iran attacking Israel — potentially triggering a regional war — is largely leading the conversation in the international press this morning. Washington is bracing itself for what its intelligence suggests “could be a significant set of attacks” on Israel by Iran “and / or its proxies,” White House Press Secretary John Kirby said last night, according to a press readout.

The US has ramped up its “force posture and capabilities in the region even in just the last few days” in anticipation of a potential outbreak of violence, Kirby said. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had ordered yesterday a strike group to speed up its deployment to the region, following a call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Galant.

This comes as Israel pushes ahead with its attacks on Palestine, killing more than 20 people in its latest strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza City, and Rafah yesterday. (Reuters | Bloomberg | Financial Times | CNBC)

ALSO WORTH NOTING- Elon Musk hosted Donald Trump for a live streamed interview and X crashed due to technical glitches — which Musk blamed on a cyberattack. (CNBC | Wall Street Journal | Politico)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Crown Prince Camel Festival kicked off last Saturday and runs until Tuesday, 10 September at the Taif Camel Racing Track, featuring 610 rounds of racing and a purse of SAR 56 mn.

Cybersecurity training event SANS Riyadh Cyber Leaders August 2024 will run from Sunday, 18 August to Thursday, 22 August at the Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya.

The New Global Sport Conference 2024 is happening on Saturday and Sunday, 24-25 August, bringing together top figures from sports, esports, gaming, entertainment, and technology. This year’s theme is the Future of Fandom, highlighting fans’ role in building brand equity and revenue.

The eight-week Esports World Cup runs until Sunday, 25 August Riyadh’s Boulevard City. The world’s top esports clubs are competing for a pool of USD 60 mn — the largest purse in esports.

The third Kingdom Business and Luxury Travel Congress (KBLT) will run Wednesday and Thursday, 25 -26 September in the Crowne Plaza Riyadh RDC Hotel and Convention, bringing together leaders and innovators from the luxury travel sector for networking, learning, and business growth opportunities.

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