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Economy & Business

Pictured in this undated image is the Al-Thawra oil field in Raqqa governorate, as rehabilitation works continue to restore production capacity.

Syria restores Raqqa oil field in former ISIS stronghold: What to know

Before Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, national oil production stood at between 400,000 and 500,00 barrels per day before falling to under 100,000 bpd during the conflict.

Guests stand at the Aramco booth during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 3, 2025.

Aramco profits jump 26% as Hormuz disruption chokes supply

Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said the market has already lost around 1 billion barrels of oil supply since the US-Israel-Iran war erupted on Feb. 28.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Kaja Kallas

EU restores economic pact to pursue fuller trade ties with Syria

The move marks a major economic step for Syria's recovery after its 13-year civil war and the fall of the Assad regime.

CN-STR / AFP via Getty Images

China’s overland trade routes offer Iran wartime economic lifeline: What to know

Cargo rail traffic between China and Iran has reportedly surged since the US blockade began in April as Tehran seeks overland trade alternatives to help buy time.

Latest News

What to know about Iran's 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' to control Hormuz traffic

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, the Iran-flagged tugboat Basim sails near a ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

Egypt ramps up energy investments amid war-driven price pressures

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly speaks in Beirut on Dec. 19, 2025.

Few ships pass Hormuz despite US efforts to break Iran's hold

Tankers are seen at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal in the Sharjah Emirate, along the Strait of Hormuz on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

Workers at the Northern Oil Company carry out maintenance work at the pumping station in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Iraq asks Turkey to resume oil exports as firms in Kurdistan region scale back

Turkey has still yet to restart oil flows from northern Iraq following a controversial court ruling despite efforts by Iraqi and Kurdish authorities. The stoppage is threatening the Kurdistan Region’s oil sector.

An Emirates Airbus A380 aircraft descends on its landing approach to Dubai International Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 17, 2023.

UAE's Emirates reports record $2.9 billion in profit after two years of losses

The Dubai-based airline’s numbers indicate it has finally recovered from the coronavirus pandemic.

United Arab Emirates

China nuclear

Analysis

UAE-China nuclear deals signal evolving energy relationship

Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, which is developing the UAE’s nuclear energy sector, signed the three agreements with Chinese nuclear energy organizations on Sunday.

By Salim A. Essaid

Chinese investors pose for a picture in the land where an industrial city, including an oil refinery, is due to be built following an economic agreement, in the port town of Duqm on May 24, 2016 . Chinese investors signed a deal with Oman's government to establish an industrial city, including an oil refinery, in the port town of Duqm, both sides said in a joint statement. The agreement signed during the ceremony in Muscat would open way for investments worth $10.7 billion by 2022 to finance industrial proj

China to support Oman's economic rebound in 2024

Oman is expected to go from one of the Middle East’s lowest growth rates this year to the region’s highest in 2024. Here's how China will help it get there.

Sebastian Castelier

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Xi Jinping Vladimir Putin BRICS

Iran increases trade with BRICS including China as it looks to join bloc

Iran has seen a 14% year-on-year increase in non-oil trade with members of the five-state alliance, which includes Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa.

Two pairs of US hundred dollar and Egyptian hundred pound notes are held before a window showing the skyline of Egypt's capital Cairo and the Nile river on January 16, 2023. - With Egypt's economy in crisis, the currency in freefall and inflation skyrocketing, the poor have been hit hard but the middle class is also teetering on the brink. The Egyptian pound has lost half its value against the dollar since March, following a devaluation demanded as part of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan agree

Egypt inflation drops to 31.5%, but food prices still rising

Annual inflation fell slightly in April compared to the previous month as the central bank readies its next decision on interest rates.

A general view shows 09 March 2004 the Shaybah mega-project, the first, and so far sole, oilfield development in Saudi Arabia's vast Al-Rub al-Khali desert, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of the eastern oil center of Dhahran. The Shaybah mega-project, which sits on top of some 15 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, more than a drop in the ocean of Saudi Arabia's estimated total reserves of about 260 billion barrels, has been producing oil to the tune of 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) for less

Saudi Aramco profit drops 19% on lower oil prices

Aramco has signed major deals with companies in China, the United States and South Korea recently, and OPEC+ recently announced a supply cut.

Lionel Messi PSG

Lionel Messi move to Saudi Arabia from PSG 'a done deal': Report

Jorge Messi said the decision on a transfer of the 2022 World Cup winner will not be taken until the end of the season.

Retired servicemen clash with soldiers outside Lebanon's central bank during a demonstration demanding inflation adjustments to their pensions, Beirut, Lebanon, March 30, 2023.

Lebanon’s angry depositors demand their money back from banks

Bank depositors staged a sit-in in Beirut to protest the banks' illegal policies imposed on their deposits amid a stifling economic crisis.

An aerial picture shows heavy traffic on two main highways in Kuwait City on March 27, 2023, after heavy rain the previous night caused flooding and road closures. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

How Kuwait’s political gridlock is hampering economic policymaking, competitiveness

Kuwait’s continued political gridlock has obstructed the government's ability to advance an effective economic policymaking and reform agenda.

Robert Mogielnicki

Robert Mogielnicki

Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after witnessed a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, July 22, 2019. (Photo by Andy Wong-Pool/Getty Images)

In boost to China, UAE and Kuwait become 'dialogue partners' in Shanghai Cooperation Organization

The Gulf states made up half of the new partners at the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in 2023.

United Arab Emirates

A picture taken on April 29, 2023, shows a Palestinian fish vendor at a market in Gaza City.

Anger at Hamas brews as taxes increase in Gaza

Amid growing poverty in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas government imposed in the past year a further series of taxes and custom fees.