Good morning, all. As we inch closer to the end of the work week, stories have cropped up on several fronts. First, Aramco and Maaden have teamed up to expand mining collaboration, forming a JV to explore roughly one-tenth of the Kingdom’s landmass. Second, Sama is now treating financial transfers to the UAE with more suspicion, reportedly notifying major banks earlier this year to apply certain measures to these transactions. Third, Lucid’s financials show continued woes for the EV maker, which is opting for more cost-cutting.

A new outlet for oil exports

Aramco is offering crude cargoes for sale off Oman’s coast, signaling a possible move to route more crude through the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reports, citing anonymous sources. The company is selling Arab Medium and Arab Heavy cargoes from locations including Sohar in the Gulf of Oman.

Who is buying? The grades, which are typically produced from fields inside the Arabian Gulf, are currently being offered to selected Chinese refiners, who favor heavier, higher-sulfur crude for their complex processing facilities.

Signs of increased loading activity are also emerging from Saudi’s Arabian Gulf facilities. Satellite imagery shows vessels with at least 9 mn barrels of capacity loading at or near the Ras Tanura export complex over the past week, while a large cluster of oil supertankers has gathered just outside the Gulf.

Why it matters: Aramco is reshaping its logistics network to avoid the Houthi-threatened Red Sea, shifting more of the freight and ins. burden to buyers. That also includes increasing Mediterranean deliveries through Egypt’s Sidi Kerir as security concerns limit tanker availability through the Red Sea. Aramco had already assigned Japanese and South Korean customers cargoes from Sidi Kerir for September, while most Chinese, Taiwanese, and Indian refiners were told to load at Yanbu.

PIF to tap debt markets in early 2027

International debt markets are expected to remain the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) primary source of financing going forward, according to the fund’s Chief Financial Officer and Acting Head of its Global Capital Finance Division Yasir bin Abdullah Al Salman (watch, runtime: 13:50). The fund’s return to the debt markets is likely to be in early 2027, with no new borrowings for 2026.

The funding streams in a nutshell: The sovereign investor will rely on four funding channels going forward, including divestments from select investments, capital markets financing, bank financing, and reinvestment of returns.

The PIF also intends to list more portfolio companies on equity markets, with the geopolitical conflict not expected to affect investor appetite for Tadawul, Al Salman said. “[For] any company that is ready for listing, we work with the Capital Market Authority and prepare the IPO file. […] We expect to list more companies in the coming years.”

It’s all part of the plan: The board-approved strategy for 2026-2030 was just released last week. It focuses on three portfolios, including the Vision Portfolio, which houses six ecosystems and is designed to crowd in private capital alongside PIF-anchored companies. These ecosystems include tourism, urban development, manufacturing, logistics, clean energy, and Neom.

DATA POINT- The PIF more than doubled its net income in 2025, up 152.4% y-o-y to SAR 65.2 bn, while growing its AUM by 5% to SAR 4.54 tn over the year.

Gulf oil looks east

Saudi Arabia and the UAE want to expand oil reserves outside the conflict-prone region, with each engaging in talks to expand reserves in Japan and South Korea, the New York Times reports, citing unnamed sources. Both nations asked Tokyo to increase their crude storage in Japan tenfold from the current 8 mn barrels each. Talks continue on final volumes and cost-sharing, with joint stockpiles expected to grow markedly.

The problem? The requested volumes likely exceed Japan’s storage capacity and face logistical challenges, the sources said. Since the East Asian country imports almost all its fossil fuels — with 90% of crude sourced from MENA — the proposed move will help stave off supply disruptions, but will limit capacity for domestic refiners and national reserves.

Not a totally new strategy: Saudi Arabia expanded crude storage inside South Korea’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve last June, clinching a sounder foothold in a vital Asian refining market. In 2023, Aramco partnered with South Korea’s KNOC to store 5.3 mn barrels in the East Asian country, granting it emergency purchase rights for five years.

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The big story abroad

In the absence of a major development in the regional war, the global press has set its sights on a number of stories. Here are the most notable headlines.

A bond yield problem: Sovereign borrowing rates are surging across the globe, with yields on 30-year US Treasuries reaching their highest levels since 2007 this week — rates in France, Germany, the UK, and Japan have also risen dramatically in recent days. A confluence of factors — largely Washington’s Iran offensive and tariff campaign — is pushing debt in developed countries to unsustainable levels.

Ottawa in the tariff target: Canada is bracing for a salvo of US tariffs on USD 20 bn worth of exports, while US President Donald Trump is reportedly mulling a last-minute agreement to avert the duties. After rounds of talks, the White House called on Canada to scrap its retaliatory auto tariffs and provincial liquor bans, while Ottawa angled to lower duties on automobiles. The tariffs are due to come into effect at midnight Eastern Daylight Time.

And in the AI world: Anthropic’s pre-IPO revolving credit facility is set to rise above its roughly USD 10 bn target, as Wall Street banks line up to lend massive sums to signal confidence and clinch a slice of one of the largest tech IPOs in history. The terms are still under negotiation, and the company could choose to cap or reduce the credit line.