ENCA - Saudi Arabia's planning to build an oil refinery and a petrochemicals plant in South Africa. It's part of a $10-billion (R138-billion) investment in the country.

ENA - Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director-General of ADFD, said, "The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development believes in the vital role the renewable energy sector plays in attaining the sustainable development goals in developing countries. This important sector stimulates economic growth, creates employment opportunities, drives innovation, supports the advancement of other key sectors, and optimises the use of natural resources – all crucial factors in improving people’s lives."

PLATTS - The companies plan to invest around $1.4 billion for the project with Sonatrach and and Total sharing 51% and 49%, respectively.

PLATTS - Oil prices averaging $70/b in 2018 underscore the need for more investment in new supply, UAE energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei told delegates at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

REUTERS - Saudi Arabia plans to set up a $10 billion oil refinery in Pakistan’s deepwater port of Gwadar, the Saudi energy minister said on Saturday, speaking at the Indian Ocean port that is being developed with the help of China.

GT - A robust expansion in foreign portfolio and other investments helped Qatar report about 9% year-on-year growth in total overseas investments into the country during the third quarter (Q3) of 2018, notwithstanding the ongoing diplomatic and trade embargo, according to the official estimates.

REUTERS - A final investment decision (FID) could be taken on more than 60 million tonnes per annum of LNG capacity this year, well above the previous record of about 45 million tonnes in 2005 and triple last year’s 21 million tonnes, Wood Mackenzie’s research director for global gas and LNG, Giles Farrer, said.

GAZPROM - Pursuant to the investment program for 2019, the overall amount of investments will stand at RUB 1,325.724 billion, with RUB 963.019 billion intended for capital investments, RUB 151.505 billion for the acquisition of non-current assets, and RUB 211.2 billion for long-term financial investments.

PLATTS - Three aggressive independent Permian Basin upstream operators released capital budgets for 2019 in the last few days that are lower than either prior expectations or actual 2018 spending by at least 12% to 15%, as corporate executives attributed reduced activity to the recent plunge in oil prices.

REUTERS - Foreign investment in Saudi Arabia more than doubled in 2018 to 13 billion riyals ($3.5 billion), its economy and planning minister said on Wednesday, despite a global furor following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October.