GCC News

[Jerry]

Kuwaiti parliament to debate new oil investment bill

KUWAIT CITY -- Kuwait's parliament is due to debate a new draft of a much-delayed legislation to regulate billions of dollars of investment by the world's oil majors in the emirate's oil sector.

The new bill rules out any foreign ownership of the country's oil resources and stipulates that any role by international oil companies (IOCs) will be on the basis of technical operation contracts.

The 28-article bill is needed primarily to allow the government to launch a $7-billion investment project to develop the northern oil fields, a plan that has been stalled for a decade over disputes with parliament...

http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050110-064102-6304r

[Jerry]

DOHA -- Qatar on Tuesday launched construction of a new $5.5-billion airport, with Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Thani laying the cornerstone.

The scale of the project, covering a site of about 2,000 hectares (7.7 square miles), underlines the mighty ambition of the Gulf state that sits atop the world's third-largest reserves of gas.

The new airport, which will be able to handle up to 60 million passengers a year by 2020, is scheduled to open in early 2009....

http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050113-024633-8441r

[Jerry]

DOHA -- The Gulf Arab state of Qatar has announced investment plans worth $108 billion over five years and the opening of its stock market to foreign investors on a limited but expandable basis.

The tiny emirate, which is determined to become the world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has also said that it plans to create a financial center to rival similar entities in the neighboring United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

"A package of $108 billion has been earmarked for projects in Qatar over five years. Fifty billion [dollars] will be spent on infrastructure projects and the rest on oil and gas ventures," economy and trade minister Mohammed Bin Ahmed Bin Jassem Al Thani told reporters on Thursday...

http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050114-034740-2590r

This isn't chump change

[Jerry]

KUWAIT CITY -- The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the emirate's largest bank, announced on Tuesday record net profits of 150.3 million Kuwaiti dinars ($510 million) in 2004...

http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050111-091220-3981r

[Dinaress]

wonder how much of that profit was generated from services provided for exchanging USD for Iraqi monies ???? or vice versa ...

lol

looking forward to the single world currency

oneness
dh
well they made a big chunk off of me :rolleye03

[Jerry]

wonder how much of that profit was generated from services provided for exchanging USD for Iraqi monies ???? or vice versa ...

lol

looking forward to the single world currency

oneness
dh
Put it this way... Almost all CPA U.S. contractors work through NBK to handle monetary issues in Iraq. Bechtel along with the CPA spear headed the first initial wire transfers to Iraq. Then NBK was chosen by J.P. Morgan to run "The Trade Bank Of Iraq" so they had first dibbs on the banking industry. They bought into Credit Bank Of Iraq at a whoping 85% which tells me they got in cheap. NBK in Kuwait holds the accounts for almost all the major contractor companies here. I'm talking payroll of thousands of people plus the expats that work for private industries.