SUBSCRIPTION THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2016 RABI AL-AWWAL 2, 1438 AH www.kuwaittimes.net OPEC agrees on first Max 22º Min 13º output cut since 2008 High Tide 13:59 Russia to reduce production too • Oil jumps above $50 Low Tide 07:25 & 19:05 40 PAGES NO: 17067 150 FILS VIENNA: The OPEC oil cartel defied expectations yester- day and nailed down its first joint output cut since 2008 after tough talks in Vienna, sending oil prices soaring. Amir reappoints Sheikh Jaber as PM Brent North Sea crude for January delivery was up $3.77 at $50.15, the first time it has risen above $50 in a By B Izzak their first coordination meeting hosted month. West Texas Intermediate was up $3.98 at $49.21. by veteran opposition MP Mohammad The accord announced by the Organization of the KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- Al-Mutair. The meeting was attended by Petroleum Exporting Countries is aimed at reducing a Ahmad Al-Sabah yesterday renamed 25 lawmakers and two more who could global supply glut that has kept prices painfully low. outgoing Prime Minister HH Sheikh not attend said they support its deci- It represents a dramatic reversal from OPEC’s Saudi- Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah to form the sions. Mutair said the meeting discussed led strategy, introduced in 2014, of flooding the market next Cabinet. The decision came after at length the issue of electing the speak- to pressure rivals, in particular US shale oil producers. the Amir held consultations with former er, as three opposition MPs have said The cartel will lower its monthly output by 1.2 million speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem and for- they will contest. Mutair said he decided barrels per day (bpd) to 32.5 million bpd from Jan 1, mer prime minister HH Sheikh Nasser to withdraw from the race in favor of Qatar’s energy minister and president of the OPEC con- Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, in MPs Abdullah Al-Roumi and Shuaib Al- ference said. “This is a major step forward and we think addition to Sheikh Jaber himself. Former Muwaizri. A four-MP committee was this is a historic agreement, which will definitely help three-time speaker and opposition also formed to study the cases of Roumi rebalance the market and reduce the stock overhang,” leader Ahmad Al-Saadoun was not pres- and Muwaizri in order to try and help Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada told a news conference ent at the consultations. select one of the two. in Vienna. He also said that the deal will help lift global Sheikh Jaber was first appointed to Their next meeting will be held on inflation accelerate to a “more healthy rate”, including in the post in late 2011 after the resigna- Saturday with the aim to resolve the the United States. tion of Sheikh Nasser. He has to form the speakership issue and come up with It finalizes a preliminary deal struck in September in new Cabinet before Dec 11 when the one candidate to face off with Ghanem, Algeria when OPEC agreed to cut production but left National Assembly is scheduled to hold who is expected to run. Several lawmak- the details to clear up later. Negotiations got bogged its first meeting. Newly-elected MPs ers have openly called for electing a down in a game of poker between OPEC’s three biggest have called on the prime minister to new speaker to replace Ghanem. MP producers, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, on who would do carefully read the outcome of the gener- Yousef Al-Fadhalah, who did not attend the heavy lifting. Iraq had said it did not want to pump al polls, in which the opposition won the opposition meeting, called on his less crude because it was short of money to fight KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receives HH the almost half of the 50 seats. Twitter account on the government Islamic State group extremists. It also disputed how Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah yesterday. —KUNA Meanwhile, opposition MPs held Continued on Page 13 much it actually produced. Continued on Page 13 Currency ban slims PAGE Palestine startups PAGE fat India weddings keep innovating Riyadh Motor Show back in gear RIYADH: In a Saudi economy where began on Tuesday night. European luxury restraint is the buzzword, this week’s brands are absent from the show, which is small-scale Riyadh Motor Show is a sign of targeted at the average buyer and takes Alwaleed: Let the times. But following widespread eco- up just one section of a Riyadh conven- nomic austerity in the kingdom hit by tion center. Much of the hall is devoted to falling oil revenues, the fact that the event auto accessories. Saudi media described women drive is being held at all after a three-year the exhibition space as several times absence has given hope to car retailers. smaller than at the previous show. RIYADH: An outspoken billionaire Saudi prince has Although it is usually an annual event, the Retailers in the kingdom in general are called for an “urgent” end to his country’s ban on NEW YORK: Former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin, US President- last show was in 2012. “There was not complaining of lower sales and residents women driving, saying it is a matter not just of rights Elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, speaks with reporters in much interest from different companies say they have less money to spend. On top but of economic necessity. “Stop the debate: Time for the lobby of Trump Tower yesterday. — AP to participate” in the intervening years, of hikes in the prices of petrol, electricity women to drive,” Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on his said Alaa Aboumerhi, general manager of and water over the past year, the cabinet official Twitter account. Alwaleed is an unusually forth- marketing for Hyundai Wallan, Saudi dis- in September imposed a wage freeze on right member of Saudi Arabia’s extensive royal family. tributors for the South Korean brand. civil servants, who make up the bulk of the Trump to leave business to He holds no political posts but chairs Kingdom Hyundai sedans are on display along- workforce. Among saving measures at the Holding Co, which has interests including in US bank- side rivals including Japan’s Toyota, highest levels, top government officials focus on running country ing giant Citigroup and the Euro Disney theme park. China’s Chery and US brands Chevrolet will no longer be given cars. He is a longtime advocate of women’s rights in the and GMC at the four-day event which Continued on Page 13 Treasury chief named conservative Islamic kingdom, which has NEW YORK: US President-elect Donald way have a conflict of interest with my var- some of the world’s Trump yesterday tried to stifle concerns ious businesses,” he tweeted. tightest restrictions on that his business empire represents a con- US law does not require Trump to give women and is the only flict of interest, promising to put it aside as up his business portfolio, although the country where they he packed his cabinet roster with fellow Constitution states that no federal official are not allowed to billionaires. In one of his trademark can receive a gift or “emolument” from a drive. In conjunction predawn tweetstorms, the Manhattan real foreign government. Some previous presi- Prince Alwaleed with his short tweet, estate mogul said that next month, he will dents have placed investments in a blind Alwaleed’s office reveal a plan to put aside his “great busi- trust, but they were not required to do so. issued an uncharacteristically long statement late ness in total in order to fully focus on run- Critics argue it would be an unprecedent- Tuesday outlining his reasons for supporting an end to ning the country”. ed ethical conflict for Trump to maintain the ban. “Preventing a woman from driving a car is The 70-year-old tycoon did not say who an interest in properties spanning the today an issue of rights similar to the one that forbade would take over his multi-billion dollar globe that rely in part on goodwill from her from receiving an education or having an inde- global property and luxury branding inter- foreign governments and regulators. pendent identity,” Alwaleed said. “They are all unjust ests, but said his children would be pres- And, even on home soil, his company acts by a traditional society, far more restrictive than ent at a December 15 news conference. He has attracted criticism for marketing the what is lawfully allowed by the precepts of religion.” has previously said his daughter Ivanka new Trump International Hotel in He also detailed the “economic costs” of women and sons Eric and Don Jr could take day- Washington - just a few blocks from the having to rely on foreign private drivers or taxis, since to-day charge of the business while he is White House - to foreign diplomats. But his public transit is not a viable alternative in the king- president, but it is not clear what he would new chief of staff , Reince Priebus, insisted dom. Using foreign drivers drains billions of dollars do with his personal stake. “While I am not there were “smart ethics lawyers” working from the Saudi economy, Alwaleed said. RIYADH: Saudi women look at a luxury sports car during the 30th International mandated to do this under the law, I feel it on a “plan”.