Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi revealed that the prices of crude oil are constant and it has been expected by producers that the prices will increase in 2010.

He said in an interview at a conference in the Qatari capital Doha today, “Oil demand is very good. It is going to increase this year”.

To ease the supply strain felt mostly in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries are now expected to abolish a 5% steel import duty within one or two months.

In a meeting on Saturday, the finance ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Al-Attiyah said the topics of economic integration would be taken up during the half-yearly consultative summit in Riyadh. The influential’s involved would be from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE.

Meeting the analyst’s expectations, Al-Rajhi Bank has posted a dip of 2.8% in the quarterly profit, as it had put in reserve cash for bad loans. Al-Rajhi is the biggest known lender of Saudi Arabia by market value. The average financing increased 6.2% to 117 billion Riyals, and the rise in the customer deposit was inclined 8% to 120 billion Riyals.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. is revealed to be in hopes that its Sharq, Yansab and Tianjin plants may pose a positive impact on the petrochemical manufacturer as of the second quarter of this year, its chief executive revealed on Sunday.

In addition, he posted that the expansion of Ibn Rushd would begin with the production in the 2012-2013, he told a news conference.

After receiving death threats for criticizing "ad hoc fatwas" on Million's Poet, the female Saudi poet, Hissa Hilal, has requested her fellow competitors to use the show to stand up for what they believe in.

Hilal who has four kids, feels that most of the times, the poet recited works praising "themselves, or a famous person of their tribe".

Saudi Arabia was able to maintain high level of stability in spite of the economic challenges between 2004 and 2009. Its economy, which grew at an annual average of 4.4 percent between 2004 and 2008, shrunk by 0.9 pct in 2009; hit adversely by global meltdown. A stimulus budget of SR475 billion in 2009 given by the Saudi government, with huge investments in infrastructure, hospitals and education.

Abdo Khal, a Saudi Arabia based author, according to the organizers of the prestigious Arabic literary award, has bagged the prestigious International Prize for his novel "Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles".