Saudi Arabia wants oil prices to rise to around $ 60 per barrel this year, said five sources in OPEC and oil industry. UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, the largest producer in OPEC and its partners in the Persian Gulf, reckon that this mark will attract investment in new fields, yet will not result in a jump in US shale oil production, the sources said. OPEC, Russia and other oil producers in 2016 agreed...

"In June last year we started to work on new version of the Law on Payment Services, which determines basic regulations of the virtual currency. Detailed plans and management regulations were published in December, and public hearing of the bill ended on 27 January. The new regulation will come...

Corn is the main agricultural culture of the USA, yet farmers from North Dakota to Texas are preparing to sow soybeans in 2017. Since 2016, soybean prices rose by 9.2%, while cost of sowing of oilseeds decreased. A farmer from Minnesota, with a farm of 2,500 acres (1,012 hectares), said that he is going to cover 55% of his land with corn in 2017, compared to 67% in 2016. In addition, he will...

Nearly three-quarters of executives in financial services sector all over the world believe that a limited number of specialists, who are able to work with new technologies, is a possible reason for slowing growth and low level of customers’ confidence. PwC conducted an international survey of business executives in the financial services sector, and found out that rapid spread of new...

Once the UK leaves the single European market, many London-based banks and financial companies will lose "passports" entitling them to serve clients in other 27 states. Perhaps, the UK and EU regulatory systems would continue recognize each other. However, no one expects a smooth and quite Brexit; it will rather be a hard and heavy exodus. The British government plans to launch a two-year...

The Brexit referendum resulted in depreciation of the pound sterling to its lowest level in more than 30 years, affecting not only the United Kingdom companies, but also their partners. In particular, Saudi Arabian oil producers may experience problems with purchase of the necessary equipment, or to shift to European suppliers due to rising prices. Record low exchange rate of the pound sterling,...

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) on Sunday bought an 8% share in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the biggest concession for production of hydrocarbons on the land, for $ 1.8 billion. Chinese state company CNPC became the third Asian partner of the oil company, along with Japan and South Korea. In addition, among the partners are listed British BP (joined in December) and French...

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold papers of Wal-Mart for $ 900 million, opting instead to invest billions of dollars in an airline. As a result, Buffett now has almost no Wal-Mart shares, while the largest US traditional retailer is seeking to catch up with Amazon and other online retailers. Amazon’s market value now stands at $ 356 billion versus $ 298 billion of Wal-Mart. Last year, the...

One of China's largest real estate developers, Dalian Wanda Group, is looking for European financial sector objects to acquire. Earlier media reported about negotiations with German Postbank, but the Chinese company has denied the information. However, observers are noting growing interest of Chinese conglomerates to the European financial market. According to Financial Times’ sources, Chinese...