US crude prices dipped below $40 per barrel as Opec+, an alliance led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, started raising output.
Futures in New York fell 0.84 per cent to trade at $39.93 per barrel at 2.51pm UAE time in the anticipation of more crude coming to the markets in August.
Brent, the international benchmark, was down 0.28 per cent at $43.24 per barrel.
"Softer global risk appetite and increased downside pressure on global oil demand has been preparing the ground for a slide below the $40 per barrel in WTI crude,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior commodity analyst at Swissquote Bank.
Encouraging manufacturing data, though, should slow down the softening in oil prices, she added.
“But even signs of economic recovery will unlikely prevent a downside correction below the $40 mark as the premature tapering of the Opec production cuts increases the worries of a higher global glut in the coming months.”
Opec+ agreed in April to draw back 9.7 million barrels per day from the markets in May and June in an effort to balance the oil market. The pact was eventually extended until the end of July.
West Texas Intermediate, which largely tracks US crude grades, fell below zero in April as production outstripped available storage capacity at the benchmark’s physical delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma. The move by Opec+ to cut production helped draw down inventory levels and returned oil prices to above $40 per barrel.
However, with movement restrictions easing in many parts of the world and demand for oil picking up, the joint ministerial monitoring committee of Opec+ agreed to ease the record level of cuts. From August 1, the group said it will draw back 7.7m bpd of crude from the markets. Countries that had previously failed to comply with the pact will make compensatory cuts until September. The additional volume of cuts to be made by Iraq, Nigeria, Angola and Kazakhstan could easily bring the overall withdrawal from the markets to an average of 8.1m bpd.
Voluntary cuts made by a core group of Opec producers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait have also ended. Riyadh pledged an additional cut of one million bpd in June, bringing its total output curbs to 4.8m bpd.
Kuwait and the UAE were cutting back an additional 80,000 bpd and 100,000 bpd respectively. Following the decision to taper cuts to 7.7m bpd from August 1, the Gulf producers will no longer make these additional voluntary commitments.
Opec+ will keep production restrictions in a tapered manner until April 2022. The group’s technical and monitoring committees will meet on August 17 and 18, respectively, to assess compliance to these output curbs.
Scoreline
Australia 2-1 Thailand
Australia: Juric 69', Leckie 86'
Thailand: Pokklaw 82'
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Match info
Who: India v Afghanistan
What: One-off Test match, Bengaluru
When: June 14 to 18
TV: OSN Sports Cricket HD, 8am starts
Online: OSN Play (subscribers only)
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
Why are you, you?
Why are you, you?
From this question, a new beginning.
From this question, a new destiny.
For you are a world, and a meeting of worlds.
Our dream is to unite that which has been
separated by history.
To return the many to the one.
A great story unites us all,
beyond colour and creed and gender.
The lightning flash of art
And the music of the heart.
We reflect all cultures, all ways.
We are a twenty first century wonder.
Universal ideals, visions of art and truth.
Now is the turning point of cultures and hopes.
Come with questions, leave with visions.
We are the link between the past and the future.
Here, through art, new possibilities are born. And
new answers are given wings.
Why are you, you?
Because we are mirrors of each other.
Because together we create new worlds.
Together we are more powerful than we know.
We connect, we inspire, we multiply illuminations
with the unique light of art.
Ben Okri,
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')
Leeds United 2 (Cooper 41'; Dallas 73')
Man of the match: Scott McTominay (Manchester United)
