GCC Economic and Business Insights (29. June 2021): OPEC+ Data Show Oil Market Remaining in Deficit for Rest of Year, Fitch Affirms Taqa at 'AA-'; With a Stable Outlook

Majid Al Futtaim achieves 97% of sustainability targets for 2020 – Dubai-headquartered developer and mall operator Majid Al Futtaim has achieved 97 percent of the targets set out in its annual sustainability strategy last year despite the business and economic disruption brought about by the pandemic, according to latest Sustainability Report. Key achievements on the energy front, according to a press statement by the company, include reducing the group’s carbon footprint by 9.2%, generating nearly 17mn kWh of renewable energy last year, with 63% generated through its shopping malls alone, and decreasing water usage by 17.5% across its operations. In a global first, the company achieved LEED Platinum certification for its entire 13-property hotel portfolio. Majid Al Futtaim is aiming to become net positive in carbon and water across all operations, tenants, and developments by 2040. In its carbon reduction quest, the company has an ongoing partnership with the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence to operate carbon-neutral movie screening at its VOX Cinemas’ Drive-In. In the first three months of operation, the partnership offset 19.32 tons of CO2 equivalent for a total of 1,400 cars. (Zawya)

ADNOC to deepen crude oil term supply cut in September – Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) will reduce the volume of crude oil it supplies to Asian term buyers by 15% in September, according to six sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The cut was much deeper compared with a reduction of 5% in term volume allocation for crude oil cargoes loading in August, three of the sources said. ADNOC did not provide a reason for the deeper cuts, the sources said. The move came as a surprise for some market participants ahead of an upcoming OPEC+ meeting on July 1. It was not immediately clear why ADNOC was making a deeper supply cut for crude oil loading in September for its term contract customers. The OPEC and allies, known as OPEC+, is returning 2.1mn bpd to the market from May through July as part of a plan to gradually unwind last year's record oil output curbs. (Reuters)

Abu Dhabi May consumer prices rise 0.7% YoY – Abu Dhabi's consumer prices rose 0.7% YoY in May versus +0.2% in April, according to the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi. (Bloomberg)

Fitch affirms TAQA at 'AA-'; with a Stable outlook – Fitch Ratings has affirmed Abu Dhabi National Energy Company's (TAQA) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and senior unsecured rating at 'AA-'. The Outlook on the Long-Term IDR is Stable. The affirmation is supported by Fitch's view of the strength of links, under its Government-Related Entities (GRE) Rating Criteria, between TAQA and its majority indirect shareholder Abu Dhabi (AA/Stable). TAQA's Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) of 'bbb+' is more than four notches lower than the Abu Dhabi sovereign rating, which leads to a top-down minus one approach under the GRE Criteria. Supportive Parent Links: TAQA is rated one notch below its indirect majority shareholder the Government of Abu Dhabi. Under the GRE Criteria, we assess status, ownership and control; and socio-political and financial implications of a default, as 'Strong', while we view the support track record-and- expectations factor as 'Very Strong'. This assessment results in a score of 35, leading to a 'top-down minus one' rating approach. (Bloomberg)

Oman sells OMR96mn 182-day bills; bid-cover at 1.28x – Oman sold OMR96mn of 182-day bills due on December 29. Investors offered to buy 1.28 times the amount of securities sold. The bills were sold at a price of 99.604, have a yield of 0.797% and will settle on June 30. (Bloomberg)