(MENAFN) Bahrain Tribune reported that several European companies have confirmed their participation in the Bahrain Executive Jet, Luxury Yacht & Elite Car Interiors expo which will be held in November 2008. The first-of-its-kind exhibition in the Middle East will be held at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre and the Bahrain International airport from November 11 to 13. The marketing campaign for the global trade expo was launched last month. The trade exhibition would bring together leaders of the VIP aviation, marine and ground transport luxury customization industries from all over the world and discerning luxury transportation buyers from all over the Middle East. In addition to this, executive aircraft equipped with customized high-end interiors would be stationed at the Bahrain International Airport for the convenience of the high profile buyers. Several European and American payers would display their ware at the exhibition.

(MENAFN) The Saudi Arabian Minister of Transport said that he has signed several contracts worth more than $470 million with Saudi Arabian companies for 15 road projects in the Kingdom, Arab News reported. The projects include construction of two-lane highways, agricultural roads and service access lanes to improve road safety, help farmers in the movement of their produce to the market, and interconnect highways with the interior through the network of feeder roads. The minister went on to say that the expenditure will be met from this year's budget. The projects will be implemented within a time frame ranging from two to three years. When completed, they will strengthen the road network in the Holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, Hail, Jizan, Qassim, Al Jouf, Arras, Tabuk and the Eastern Province.

(MENAFN) State-owned Chinese oil giant CNOOC has signed a production-sharing deal with Somalia's transitional federal government in the east African country, which ranks as a high-risk frontier even in an industry well accustomed to dangerous environments, Reuters reported. Somalia's Interim Prime Minister said that ConocoPhillips, Chevron, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Eni will be invited to return and change their concessions into production-sharing agreements under an oil law due to be published in the next two months. Range Resources estimates that Somalia has the potential to yield five billion to 10 billion barrels of oil. The US Energy Information Administration, however, says the country has no proved oil reserves.

(MENAFN) The Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited (4) (Qatargas 4) announced that it has signed agreements securing loans and letters of credit to finance the Qatargas 4 LNG project, The Peninsula reported. Qatargas 4 is a joint venture between wholly-owned subsidiaries of Qatar Petroleum (QP), with 70 percent, and Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) with a 30 percent stake. The project will sell 7.8 million tons per annum of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell for export primarily into the North American gas market. The total amount of financing raised for the project has exceeded $4 billion which is the second-largest project financing raised for QP projects after Qatargas 2. The financing consists of different facilities provided by 30 international, regional and Qatari banks. It also includes a co-financing facility provided by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell. All the facilities have a maturity of 15.5 years.

(MENAFN) Dubai Drydocks World (DDW), which has received acceptances of 92.29 percent of shares of Singapore-based Pan United Marine (PUM), announced that it was preparing to exercise its option to acquire 100 percent ownership of the company, Khaleej Times reported. Under its original voluntary conditional cash offer, DDW, Dubai World's global shipyard operator, enjoys the right to seek total control of PUM through compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares if 90 percent of shareholders accepted its offer, a company statement said. For DDW, which has extended the deadline of its takeover offer for PUM after acquiring control of almost 85 percent of the marine company, the Singapore foray its first major overseas acquisition that allows it to diversify its operations beyond the Middle East.

(MENAFN) The Chairman of Dubai World and Nakheel Properties said that the Palm Deira has started work on the first phase of its Palm Deira Corniche, being developed at a cost of around $81.7 million, Khaleej times reported. He indicated that the nine kilometer-long and 30-metre wide corniche will comprise of a string of leisure facilities, parks and a marina when fully complete. He added that such projects will boost the tourism industry in the emirate of Dubai. On his side, the Executive Director of Operations at Palm Deira said that the corniche is being developed over an area of five million square meters, and forms 11 percent of the total Palm Deira project. It will be developed in multiple phases, with each phase consisting of several stages.

(MENAFN) The Chairman of the National Central Cooling Co. (Tabreed) said that the company has posted a net profit of $9.26 million for the first half of 2007, up from $8.85 million over the same period last year, Khaleej Times reported. He indicated that Tabreed's revenues rose to $66.5 million compared to $63 million, representing an increase of 5.5 percent over the same period in 2006. Profits from operations soared to $32.78 million compared to $28.7 million, a 14 percent increase over the same period in 2006. As of June 30, 2007, the company's total assets increased to $1.19 billion from $1.14 billion as at December 31, 2006. Shareholder's equity expanded to $367 million up from $353 billion at the end of 2006.