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OPEC+ is ramping up production just as Aramco floods the market: The seven core OPEC+ members agreed yesterday to raise August output quotas by 188k bpd — a fifth straight monthly increase. The new quotas come as Aramco offers hard discounts to win back Asian buyers: The first tankers to load at Ras Tanura in almost four months have exited Hormuz carrying 10 mn barrels, with the company switching to spot pricing to move volume fast, Reuters reported last week. Saudi has shipped 34 mn barrels through the strait since the 17 June ceasefire.
Watch this space: Aramco should announce its August official selling price any moment now…
Turkish conglomerate eyes US-made, fourth-gen nuclear tech: Turkey-based IC Holding is in talks with the US-based ARC Clean Technology for a licensing agreement to commercialize and localize small modular reactors (SMRs) tech. The plan could see IC Holding deploy up to 20 units of the ARC-100 — a 100 MW SMR that could cost some USD 300 mn a piece — across Turkey, the Middle East, and Europe.
This would be an agreement with a long-term horizon. SMR is still a nascent technology with very few use cases currently in operation. The tech promises compact, movable, and easily assembled nuclear reactors with up to 300 MW power capacity that could be used to power data centers and energy-intensive industries, especially in geographies with limited grid connectivity. Securing US-grown SMR tech can help Turkey meet its target to add over 20 GW of nuclear power by 2050.
Another outsourcing hub is coming to Egypt: London-based professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY) is building a regional IT and consulting hub in Egypt, with plans to create 1k specialized jobs over three years, exporting cybersecurity, data analytics, AI, and risk consulting services to the wider MENA region, according to a statement from Egypt's Communications and Information Technology Ministry. The move adds EY to a roster that already includes Deloitte and Concentrix — and to an outsourcing sector that doubled to USD 4.8 bn between 2022 and 2025.
The pitch sounds familiar — and that may be a cause of concern. EY’s hub sits squarely in the “climb the value chain” playbook we flagged last month as the region’s default response to the fast-tracked AI-driven displacement, especially in lower-value outsourcing exports. The question is now whether 1k jobs over three years moves the needle against a national target of USD 12 bn and 630k jobs by 2029.
