Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/769023
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 4 JANUARY 2017 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Oil hits 18-month high as Kuwait, Oman fulfi ll OPEC cuts Oil prices hit 18-month highs on Tuesday, the fi rst trading day of 2017, buoyed by hopes that a deal between OPEC and other big oil exporters to cut production, which kicked in on Sunday, will drain a global supply glut. Oil climbed to an 18-month high as output cuts by Kuwait and Oman signalled that OPEC and its partners are delivering on their agreement to stabilize the market. Benchmark Brent crude jumped more than 2% to a high of $58.37, up $1.55 a barrel and its highest since July 2015. Later yesterday, Brent eased to $58.12, up $1.30. US light crude oil hit an 18-month high of $55.24, up $1.52 a barrel, also its highest since July 2015, before slipping to around $55.00. Oil futures rose as much as 2.8% after adding 45% last year, the biggest annual gain since 2009. Officials from Oman and Kuwait told local media they're cutting oil production in January, fulfilling pledges that they and 22 other producers made in December. Prices also advanced as China's manufacturing purchasing managers index stabilized near a post-2012 high, signalling demand may be supported in the world's second-biggest oil user. Prices, which eased in late December, are surpassing the peaks reached just after the deal was finalized, as Kuwait and Oman give the first signs the curbs are being implemented. OPEC member Kuwait has reduced output by 130,000 bpd to about 2.75 million bpd, Al-Anba newspaper reported, citing Kuwait Oil Co. CEO Jamal Jaafer. Oman is cutting 45,000 bpd from 1.01 million bpd, the Oil Ministry's Director of Marketing Ali Al- Riyami said on Oman TV. OPEC nations and non-members including Russia and Mexico have agreed to trim output by about 1.8 million bpd. Iraq will start implementing cuts by reducing heavy and medium grades, the nation's Oil Minister Jabbar al- Luaibi told Kuwaiti daily al- Jarida. Libya, one of two OPEC countries exempt from the output cuts, has increased its production to 685,000 bpd, from around 600,000 bpd in December, an official at the National Oil Corporation said on Sunday. Elsewhere, non-OPEC Middle Eastern oil producer Oman told customers last week that it would cut its crude oil term allocation volumes by 5% in March. Non- OPEC Russia's oil production in December remained unchanged at 11.21 million bpd, near a 30-year high, but it was preparing to cut output by 300,000 bpd in the first half of 2017 in its contribution to the accord. Slight increase in tourism in October Jeanelle Mifsud Total guests in collective accommodation establishments reached 160,431 in October, while total nights spent amounted to 879,690. The only categories of collective accommodation to register increases in total nights spent were 4-star and 2-star hotels. The largest share of guest nights was reported in 4-star hotels, accounting for 427,810 nights, or 48.6% of the total. On average, guests spent 5.5 nights during October in collective accommodation. This figure is at par with October 2015. The net use of bed-places stood at 70%, up by 0.3 percentage points when compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. On a national level, there were 180 active collective accommodation establishments during October, with a net capacity of 18,187 bedrooms and 40,582 bed-places. Regional breakdown Total guests in Malta numbered 151,823, up by 1.1% over October 2015. An increase of 0.6% was also recorded in the number of nights spent. The average length of stay stood at 5.6 nights, at par with the previous year, while the net occupancy rate advanced from 70.1% to 70.7%. Total guests and nights spent in Gozo and Comino decreased by 2.3 and 4.7% when compared to the comparative month of the previous year, to 8,608 and 35,805 respectively. January-October 2016 Total guests during the first 10 months of 2016 amounted to 1,392,097, an increase of 0.2% over the same period in 2015. Total nights spent went down by 0.7%, reaching nearly 7.9 million. The net use of bed-places declined by 0.9 percentage points to 66.4%. Total guests and nights spent in collective accommodation during October 2016 grew by 0.9% and 0.4% respectively