{"id":563473,"date":"2021-07-05T03:57:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T03:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/07\/05\/this-morning-big-opec-meeting-today-shoukry-in-ny-ahead-of-gerd-meeting-china-dunks-on-didi\/"},"modified":"2021-07-05T03:57:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-05T03:57:03","slug":"this-morning-big-opec-meeting-today-shoukry-in-ny-ahead-of-gerd-meeting-china-dunks-on-didi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/07\/05\/this-morning-big-opec-meeting-today-shoukry-in-ny-ahead-of-gerd-meeting-china-dunks-on-didi\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: Big OPEC+ meeting today; Shoukry in NY ahead of GERD meeting; China dunks on Didi."},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends \u2014 We open today\u2019s issue with good news:<\/strong> Wednesday is looking like the last time we will have to utter the words \u2019Ever Given\u2019 after the Suez Canal Authority said yesterday it will finally unshackle the container ship this week following an agreement with its owners.<\/p>\n

Though the news seems to be dominating the conversation on Egypt internationally this morning, of greater importance to us here at home is the news that from tomorrow covid restrictions on hotels and other non-essential businesses will be loosened, allowing them to operate at up to 70% capacity<\/strong>. All that and more in this morning\u2019s news well, below.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY THIS MORNING-<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> It\u2019s the UAE vs the world as high stakes OPEC+ m<\/strong>eetings resume <\/strong>today<\/a><\/strong> to hash out an agreement on raising oil <\/strong>production.<\/strong> \u201cAccept our terms or blow up the OPEC+ alliance\u201d appears to be Abu Dhabi\u2019s negotiating tactic, which was the only country to refuse to sign onto an agreement to ramp up production last week. The UAE is demanding that it be allowed to produce more oil and argues that the quotas negotiated by Saudi Arabia and Russia are unfair.<\/p>\n

The core of the disagreement: baselines.<\/strong> Under the current supply-cut regime, baseline production figures are used to calculate how much each country is allowed to produce. The UAE\u2019s current baseline is 3.2 mn barrels per day, which it claims is too low and should be 3.8 mn. Abu Dhabi is also frustrated seeing the bns of USD it has invested in expanding capacity going to waste, and wants to ramp up production.<\/p>\n

A clash between allies:<\/strong> Neither the UAE and Saudi Arabia have signalled that a pact is around the corner, with energy ministers from both countries taking uncompromising public stances.<\/p>\n

Stakes are high:<\/strong> Failure to find an agreement would do one of two things. Oil prices \u2014 already surging due to rising demand and tightening supply \u2014 are sent even higher as output fails to meet demand. Or the fractious meetings cause a disintegration of the loose alliance of oil producers, triggering another race-to-the-bottom price war of the kind we saw last year. Bloomberg<\/a> and CNBC<\/a> have the info.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-<\/strong> The global business press is zoning in on the latest regulatory <\/strong>crackdown in China<\/strong>, which yesterday pulled the plug on ride-hailing giant Didi <\/strong>just days after it listed on the Nasdaq. The country\u2019s cyber security regulator has ordered Didi removed from domestic app stores, alleging that the company has illegally collected customer data and violated antitrust rules. The decision comes days after the ride-hailing giant raised USD 4.4 bn in the biggest Chinese IPO in the US since 2014. The story is leading the front pages<\/strong> of the Financial Times<\/a> and Bloomberg<\/a>, the Wall Street Journal<\/a> and CNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

***CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> on the top stories from yesterday\u2019s edition of EnterprisePM:<\/p>\n