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NEW YORK — Rising crude prices drove huge profits for US oil industry giants, but key figures in the sector have raised concerns about low investments in exploration and production.

They warn that continued tepid oilfield investment creates the threat of a supply crunch down the road.

As petroleum prices have stabilised over the last year following actions by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), oil companies have ramped up investment in key US shale regions such as the Permian Basin in Texas.

But activity outside of the US has remained sluggish, evidence of what the International Energy Agency (IEA) called a "two-speed" oil market that it warns could lead to a supply crunch.

The investment restraint "brings an additional cause of concern for global energy security at a time of heightened geopolitical risks in some major producer countries, such as Venezuela", the IEA said this week.

Oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron on Friday reported strong first quarter earnings as they reaped the benefit of higher crude prices.

Exxon's earnings more than doubled to $4 billion on strong profit growth in its exploration and production business. 

Chevron reported $2.7 billion in profits, a far cry from the loss of $725 million in the year-ago period when the industry was mired in a two-year slump. Chief Executive John Watson said the company remains in belt-tightening mode.

The results came as President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at opening up more offshore territory to development, including in the arctic. Industry officials praised the action, but said any new leasing would not be available until 2019 at the earliest and that production would likely not hit markets for at least decade.

The improved profits were largely expected as US oil prices were above $50 a barrel for most of the first quarter, after hovering below $40 a barrel for most of the comparable period of 2016.

However, the IEA, which represents governments of oil consuming countries, said oil discoveries declined in 2016 and final investment decisions on major projects have slipped to the lowest level since the 1940s.

"The key question for the future of the oil market is for how long can a surge in US shale supplies make up for the slow pace of growth elsewhere in the oil sector," IEA executive director Fatih Birol said.

Shaky oil prices 

Paul Kibsgaard, chief executive of leading oil services firm Schlumberger, warned that "the continuing underinvestment in new supply is increasing the likelihood of a medium-term supply deficit."

The company also saw first-quarter earnings swing back into positive territory.

Schlumberger's non-US activity "reached a bottom in all markets," Kibsgaard said last week. "But for Q2 we only see at this stage flat underlying activity."

Analysts say increased US shale activity was the first to be triggered by higher prices because projects are smaller in scale and require shorter cycle times compared with ventures in remote areas or offshore.

At the same time, the very speed in which shale production can ramp up has acted as a ceiling on oil prices, because of concerns runaway output will flood the market.

ExxonMobil vice president Jeff Woodbury said there were "a lot of variables" behind the company's investment restraint. 

While underlying energy demand growth remains solid and OPEC has generally complied with its production limits, Woodbury said, strong growth in North American output and lofty global inventories also factor in to investment decisions.

"The macro environment would still indicate the need to be cautious going forward," he said on a conference call with analysts.

Woodbury cited a series of discoveries offshore of Guyana on the northern coast of South America as evidence the company remains active in exploration. 

The company also has taken advantage of low costs from suppliers in 2016 to shoot 60,000 kilometres of seismic data, the first stage in exploration.

Shares of ExxonMobil rose 0.5 per cent to $81.65, while Chevron climbed 1.1 per cent to $106.70.

CAIRO — Egypt has halted fish exports after a surge in sales to foreign markets following last November's currency devaluation led to supply shortages locally and a spike in domestic prices, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said.

Sisi did not say how long the suspension would last but promised Egyptians, who have seen their purchasing power sharply eroded by the devaluation, that measures would be enforced to help the market adjust prices lower. 

"We used to export 40,000 tonnes of fish a year. Within the first three months [of this year] we exported 120,000 tonnes," Sisi told a youth conference aired on Egyptian television late on Tuesday. "[That's why] we took a decision to halt exports of fish." 

Much of Egypt's fish exports heads to the Gulf states.

Egypt abandoned its peg of 8.8 pounds per dollar on November 3 and the currency now trades at about 18 per greenback. The plunge in the pound has driven inflation to over 30 per cent, stoking public pressure on Sisi to revive the ailing economy, tame prices and create jobs.

The suspension of fish exports comes after the government this month imposed a tariff on sugar exports of 3,000 Egyptian pounds per tonne.

"Believe me, we are going towards adjusting prices according to the market mechanisms but bear with it... you will see what we will do to adjust prices," Sisi said.

AMMAN — The 2nd Middle East and Africa Scientific Meeting (MEASM) will be launched today at the Dead Sea, with more than 250 participants and several speakers, getting together exchange clinical case studies and experiences in the field of dental implants.

The meeting, organised by MegaGen Implant Co. Ltd. — a leading Korean company in the field of dental implant, will be attended by several Jordanian officials and Korea’s Ambassador Lee Bom-yon. The goal for this year is to bring MEASM to an international level standard conference, according to a statement from the Korea Business Centre in Amman.

The 1st MEASM was held in February 2016 in Dubai, according to the statement. MegaGen has 300 qualified employees and is strongly represented in Europe, USA, Asia and South America. Its turnover in 2016 was $70 million, the statement said.

BENGALURU — The Nasdaq breached the 6,000 mark for the first time ever on Tuesday, spurred by a raft of strong corporate earnings and President Donald Trump's promise of a major tax reform plan.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose as much as 0.4 per cent to hit a record level of 6,007.72 helped by gains in Biogen and Apple.

The index first breached the 5,000 mark on March 7, 2000 and closed above that level two days later during the height of the tech boom.

Biogen's shares jumped more than 4 per cent after the biotech company reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Tuesday. 

At 9:36am, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 184.02 points, or 0.89 per cent, at 20,947.91, the S&P 500 was up 9.71 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 2,383.86 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 22.27 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 6,006.09.

Trump promised last week to make "a big tax reform and tax reduction" announcement on Wednesday. The president has directed his aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 per cent from 35 per cent, a Trump administration official said on Monday.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with materials and financials in the lead.

Better-than-expected profits at McDonald's and Caterpillar helped the Dow outperform other major Wall Street indexes. 

Tuesday's gains build on a day-earlier rally, which was driven by the victory of centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the French presidential election. Polls show Macron is likely to beat his far-right rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote on May 7. 

"The French vote and Trump's plan to slash corporate taxes to 15 per cent are two powerful forces that will still likely contribute to a positive trend as earnings prove to be better than expected," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial wrote in a note. 

Of the 100 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, 77 per cent have beaten profit expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Over the past four quarters, 71 per cent of the companies had beaten estimates. 

Straight Path rose 6.3 per cent after the company said a "multi-national telecommunications company" had offered $104.64 per-share, topping AT&T's bid of $95.63 per share.

Sandwich supplier AdvancePierre Foods jumped 9.2 per cent after Tyson Foods said it would buy the company for about $3.2 billion in cash.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,857 to 741. On the Nasdaq, 1,787 issues rose and 519 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 57 52-week highs and two lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 114 highs and nine lows. 

AMMAN — The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) is extending the time designated for collecting cheques through the electronic clearing system and for carrying out interbank financial transfers within the kingdom, according to a CBJ statement received by The Jordan Times on Tuesday. 

According to the statement, CBJ Governor Ziad Fariz announced the extention of the working hours of payment systems operated by the CBJ by an extra hour, starting from May 1 and as follows:

The period of receiving cheques from citizens to be collected on same business day is extended for one hour, to end at 01:00pm instead of 12:00 pm.

The period of receiving high-value transfers from citizens to be sent through the Real Time Gross Settlement System within the Kingdom is extended by one hour, to end at 3:30pm instead of 2:30pm.

The period of receiving low- value transfers from citizens to be sent through the Automated Clearing House within the Kingdom is also extended by one hour, until 2:30pm instead of 1:30pm.

The step is in line with the CBJ’s commitment to serve the national economy, accelerate the monetary cycle and manage liquidity, the CBJ statement indicated. 

ZURICH — French-Swiss cement maker LafargeHolcim said on Monday its chief executive Eric Olsen is stepping down following an internal investigation into the company’s activities in Syria. 

His resignation will be effective on July 15, LafargeHolcim said in a statement, adding that its board had agreed to his departure even though an internal probe had determined he was not responsible for any wrongdoings. 

Olsen’s departure follows an inquiry into the indirect financing by Lafarge of armed groups in civil war-ravaged Syria to keep one of its cement plants operational. 

“My decision is driven by my conviction that it will contribute to addressing strong tensions that have recently arisen around the Syria case,” said Olsen. 

“While I was absolutely not involved in, nor even aware of, any wrongdoings I believe my departure will contribute to bringing back serenity to a company that has been exposed for months on this case,” he added. 

‘Unacceptable practices’ 

Last month, LafargeHolcim admitted that it had resorted to “unacceptable practices” to continue operations at one of its now-closed factories in Syria, and on Monday it said an internal probe had confirmed that finding. 

The admission came after sources close to the case told AFP in January that the French government had filed a legal complaint against Lafarge for buying oil in Syria to power the Jalabiya factory, in violation of sanctions. 

French cement maker Lafarge bought the factory in 2007 and invested some $680 million to get it working by 2010, representing the biggest foreign investment in the country outside the petroleum sector. 

The plant, located in northern Syria some 150 kilometres northeast of Aleppo, was finally evacuated in 2014, and closed down before Lafarge merged with its Swiss competitor Holcim in 2015. 

Lafarge is suspected of sourcing oil locally to operate the factory in defiance of a 2012 EU ban on purchases of Syrian oil as part of a sanctions package targeting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. 

According to an investigative piece published in French daily Le Monde last June, Lafarge entered into deals with armed groups in Syria, including the Daesh terror group, to protect its business interests there. 

On Monday, LafargeHolcim published findings from an independent, internal investigation into the plant, commissioned by its board. 

“A number of measures taken to continue safe operations at the Syrian plant were unacceptable, and significant errors of judgement were made that contravened the applicable code of conduct,” it said. 

“The findings also confirm that, although these measures were instigated by local and regional management, selected members of group management were aware of circumstances indicating that violations of Lafarge’s established standards of business conduct had taken place,” it added. 

It stressed though that its internal investigation had “concluded that Eric Olsen was not responsible for, nor thought to be aware of, any wrongdoings that have been identified as part of its review.”

Never again 

The company, which said it would begin searching for Olsen’s successor “immediately”, said it had taken “remedial measures”, including the creation of an “Ethics, Integrity and Risk Committe” to strengthen and enhance compliance with its ethics rules. 

Chairman of LafargeHolcim’s board Beat Hess, who is set to temporarily take over the chief executive seat after Olsen’s departure, stressed on Monday that “we are absolutely committed to ensuring that events like those that occurred in Syria must never happen again at LafargeHolcim”. 

AMMAN — The general assembly of the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (HBTF) on Sunday approved the distribution of 30 per cent in dividends, in accordance with the board’s recommendation.

The decision was announced during an ordinary meeting of the general assembly which also approved the board of directors’ report, the financial statements of 2016 and the future plan for 2017 at the meeting, according to a bank statement.

It elected the board of directors for the next session, the statement added.

Also, during an extraordinary meeting on Sunday, the general assembly approved

bringing up its capital by 25 per cent to become JD315 million.

Highlighting the bank’s achievements for 2016, Abdul Ilah Khatib who chaired the two meetings, pointed out that the bank’s profit during 2016 exceeded that of the previous year.

Its pre-tax profit amounted to JD190.3 million, marking an increase of JD13.3 million or 7.5 per cent over the previous year, he noted.

The bank’s net profit after tax amounted to JD131 million, with an increase of JD6.3 million or 5 per cent over that of the previous year. 

Khatib said the bank’s group achieved growth in most items of the balance sheet; total assets reached JD7.8 billion, while customer deposits amounted to JD5.6 billion. The total direct credit facilities increased to reach JD4.3 billion at the end of 2016. Total equity is about JD1.1 billion. 

These results positively reflected on several key performance indicators, enhancing the bank’s financial strength, solvency and capital base, besides the quality and safety of its credit and investment portfolios, according to the bank’s statement. 

WASHINGTON — It is "urgent" to reach an agreement on a loan programme for Greece, but a commitment is still required from Athens on reforms and from Europe on debt relief, a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said on Friday. 

"It is urgent that we agree on a programme and that we conclude these discussions because it's taking a toll on the Greek economy," Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF's European department, said. 

"There is no doubt about that, it's serious," he told reporters.

Talks between Greece, the IMF and the eurozone have dragged on for many months. But Athens needs a fresh infusion of funds soon to make its debt payments due in July. 

Despite pressure from European heavyweight Germany, the IMF so far has refused to participate in the 86 billion euro loan programme the eurozone agreed with Greece in mid-2015, the third since 2010, largely over the issue of the nation's debt sustainability. 

On the reform side, while some outstanding issues remain, Thomsen said "good progress" has been made with the Greek authorities in recent weeks, including on budget issues. An IMF mission will be back in Athens "next week".

Budget surplus

Greece announced on Friday a budgetary surplus (excluding debt charges) of 3.9 per cent of GDP in 2016, in line with a target set by Europeans. 

European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici welcomed the result. 

"This should contribute to the will for the steps that lie ahead to find a lasting and comprehensive solution," he said on the sidelines of the IMF Spring meeting.

French Economy Minister Michel Sapin also was optimistic about a deal.

"I am quite confident that we will find, with the IMF and Germany, a solution that will help Greece and thus the EU to stabilise the situation," he told AFP. 

Thomsen, however, said disagreements persist over the period of time in which Athens will have to meet the surplus objective, which the IMF considers too ambitious. 

The eurozone says Greece can deliver a primary surplus of 3.5 per cent of GDP in 2018, but the IMF has said only 1.5 per cent is feasible.

The IMF also needs more clarification from Europe on the how it will implement the promised debt relief for Greece, he said.

If these two issues are resolved, the IMF will be able to participate financially in the aid plan, as it did in 2010 and 2012, Thomsen said. 

IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Friday met with Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and she had "constructive" discussions, but did not provide further details.

She has stressed that the fund cannot participate in any loan programme unless the debt level of the country is considered sustainable.

El Kef, Tunisia — Thousands protested in northeastern Tunisia on Thursday to mark a general strike over unemployment and poverty, six years since a revolution ignited by similar grievances.

Demonstrators gathered at the local branch of the powerful UGTT trade union in Kef, 180 kilometres west of Tunis, before marching down the main streets.

“Work, freedom, dignity!” they shouted. “Kef has the right to development!”

They denounced the government over “broken promises” to develop the region. 

“This demonstration and strike are important, raising a cry of anger in the face of a situation that cannot last,” teacher Rached Salhi said.

Government offices, private companies, shops and cafes were closed and shuttered. Only hospitals, pharmacies and bakeries remained open.

Kamel Saihi, deputy chief of the UGTT’s regional office, said governments had marginalised the northeastern region.

“It has been ignored by successive governments since the revolution and [current Prime Minister] Youssef Chahed did the same thing,” he said.

Similar protests have rocked other parts of Tunisia in recent weeks, including the southern province of Tataouine and the central region of Kairouan. 

The Kef protests were triggered by rumours that a major factory there was set to be relocated to Hammamet, a more developed coastal region.

Six years since a revolution that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has not been able to resolve the issues that sparked the uprising — including poverty, unemployment and corruption. 

Last year saw major protests in the impoverished region of Kasserine following the death of a young person during a demonstration over unemployment.

In October, protesters in the central region of Gafsa shut down two key phosphate mines in a weeks-long dispute over jobs.

ABU DHABI — The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is confident that production cuts agreed with non-members to prop up prices will lead to a recovery in the market, its chief said on Wednesday.

"We are optimistic that the policy measures we have taken already place us on the path of recovery," OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo said at an energy forum in Abu Dhabi.

OPEC members agreed in November to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months beginning from the start of the year. 

Some non-cartel producers, led by Russia, joined in December by committing to cut output by 558 million bpd.

The OPEC chief did not take a position on whether oil ministers from participating countries would extend the cuts when they meet in Vienna next month.

"These 24 countries, I believe, will take a decision that will be in the best interest of not only producers, but also consumers and the global industry in general," he said.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers said after talks in Kuwait last month that they were looking into extending the output cuts, as compliance with the agreement has increased.

UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told reporters at the forum that it was "still premature to make any decision" on the cuts.

"The market is correcting itself. So far we have not seen huge fluctuation in the price, which is a good thing," he said.

"We want stability in the market," he added.

Barkindo said the joint action has put OPEC and other producers in the "driving seat" to dictate events instead of "reacting to market developments".

The cuts were agreed to help restore market stability "by addressing one variable, which is stock", he said.

"As a result of the rising stock over the past years, the equation has gone out of balance."

All producers taking part in the cuts are committed to restoring stability, he said.

Oil prices have dropped by around half since 2014 and currently hover just above $50 per barrel.