DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has started pumping oil from the 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) Khursaniyah oilfield, a source at state oil firm Saudi Aramco said yesterday. The oilfield is the largest single increment to global oil production for several years and was initially due to start up in December. “The facility is operational and producing crude,” the source said.

Kuwait’s refinery fire under control

DUBAI: A fire that broke out yesterday at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery, Mina Al-Ahmadi, has been brought under control and has not affected operations, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company said. “The refinery is fully operational at the moment and there is no effect on exports or output,” KNPC spokesman Ahmad Al-Muzzaiel told Reuters.

Taqa buys Dutch unit of EnCore Oil

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. said yesterday it had agreed to buy the Dutch subsidiary of EnCore Oil for $5.5 million. EnCore Oil Nederland, whose only asset is a 10 percent interest in the Amstel field offshore the Netherlands, will be integrated into Taqa, which is 75 percent-owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi holds over 90 percent of the oil reserves of the United Arab Emirates, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter.

Inflation data ‘inaccurate’

DUBAI: The Abu Dhabi Department of Planning and Economy said on Tuesday inflation data it had provided a day earlier were “inaccurate”, without offering the correct data. Annual inflation in Abu Dhabi hit 12.88 percent in the second quarter of 2008 as rents and food costs soared, planning department data given to reporters on Monday showed. But the department said in a statement on Tuesday the rate released to the media was “incorrect and inaccurate”.

RSA’s new marine e-cargo system

MANAMA: RSA, a world-leading insurance group and one of the largest insurers in the region, launched its marine e-cargo system in Bahrain. The system, a comprehensive Web-based marine-cargo certificate-production facility, is one of the fastest of its kind in the Middle East at present.