Egypt has obtained $23 billion in aid from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait in the last eighteen months since Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was ousted, Investment Minister Ashraf Salman said on Monday. Speaking at a business conference in Dubai, Salman said the aid included oil shipments, cash grants and deposits in Egypt’s central bank.

New Fitch Ratings recently underscored Saudi Arabia’s resilience as an investment destination despite lower oil prices and continued spending. Fitch Ratings affirmed Saudi Arabia’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at ‘AA’. The Outlooks are Stable. The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at ‘AA+’ and the Short-term foreign currency IDR at ‘F1+’. The rating reflects Saudi Arabia’s substantial external and fiscal buffers, which are a key support for the ratings in an environment of lower oil prices. [Arab News, 3/1/2015]

According to a statement released by the Iraqi oil ministry, Iraq’s oil exports rose in February to an average 2.597 million barrels per day (bpd) from 2.535 million bpd in the previous month. Exports from Iraq’s southern terminals reached 2.293 million bpd, while exports from the north via the Kurdistan pipeline were 304,000 bpd in February. Export from the south of the country was hit hard by bad weather, which delayed shipment for several days, but a doubling of shipments through the north offset the loss. [Reuters, 3/1/2015]

According to the National Oil Corporation (NOC) spokesman, overall crude production in Libya has risen to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd). The figure referred to output production on 1 March with the recent reopening of the Sarir and Messla fields having contributed to the increase. Another positive development has been the reopening of the Zueitina port in central Libya, providing another onshore export terminal besides Hariqa in the northeast. Production remains below the country’s maximum capacity of around 1.6-1.7 million bpd. [Libya Monitor (subscription), 3/2/2015]

The Moroccan Ministry of Corporate Affairs announced a slight increase in the prices of petroleum products starting on March 1. According to a statement from the ministry, the price of diesel will increase by 51 cents to reach MAD 8.96 per liter, while the price of premium gasoline will increase by 34 cents, to be sold for MAD 9.88 per liter. After the government decided to stop the subsidy of oil products, fully effective on January 1, oil prices are liberalized and have become subject to the fluctuations of the international oil market. [Morocco World News, 3/1/2015]