Oil prices fell by more than $5 a barrel on Thursday, on reports that US Preident Joe Biden could order the release of 180M barrels of oil from the country's strategic reserves. Brent is trading at around $107 a barrel and WTI at $101 a barrel, after slipping as low as $100. Concerns over supply constraints have also been eased due to a slowdown in China's industrial activity. Meanwhile, OPEC and its allies are convening today to discuss global oil supplies. The International Energy Agency and others have been calling on the cartel to raise output faster, to help rein in inflation.

Equiti Capital market analyst. David Madden joined us to discuss the details.

#OPEC #OilSupply #OilPrices

The US continues to raise the heat on Russia over its attack on Ukraine. In its latest round of sanctions, Washington is slapping sanctions on entire sectors of the Russian economy. But attempts to cut off Russia's biggest income source seem to be much less successful. The US is pressing allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to bolster oil output to replace a potential loss in supplies from Russia. But OPEC and its allies say the global energy trade should not be politicized.

#RussiaSanctions #OilMarket #OPECMeeting

The Turkish tech sector, which has produced innovative companies with growing global footprints. Among them are shopping sites like Getir, Trendyol, and Hepsiburada, which fine-tuned their business models at home and are now making waves abroad. Now the search is on for the country's next corporate 'unicorn,' as these billion-dollar firms are known. TRT World's Paolo Montecillo was at this year's World E-Commerce Expo in the Turkish city of Antalya to find out what startups are doing to make their leaps.

Emre Ekmekci joined us on set. He's head of the Turkish E-Commerce Association and attended the World E-Commerce Expo in Antalya this week.

#TurkishStartups #ECommerceExpo #TürkiyeUnicorn

Oil prices are down slightly on Friday amid a US led effort to have major economies open up their emergency reserves. It aims to bring down the price of the commodity, by partly offsetting Russian fossil fuel shipments affected by Western sanctions. The International Energy Agency is meeting later on Friday to discuss the coordinated release from its stockpiles.

OANDA's senior market analyst, Craig Erlam joined us from London to discuss latest developments.

#OilReserves #OilMarket #EnergyPrices

Oil prices are rebounding after heavy losses on Wednesday, amid tight supply and growing prospects of new Western sanctions against Russia. That's despite the fact that signs of progress are emerging from peace talks between Moscow and Kiev. The international benchmark Brent is trading at around $111 a barrel, while WTI stands at $105 a barrel. The focus turned to tight supply after the American Petroleum Institute industry group reported crude stocks fell by 3M barrels in the week ended March 25.

Hargreaves Lansdown investment analyst, Susannah Streeter joined us to discuss developments in oil market.

#OilSupply #FuelPrices #CrudeOil

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the seventh country to join the East African Community. Its inclusion will provide members of the economic bloc with access to key Atlanctic Ocean ports. It also adds an economy worth $50B to the common market area.

For more on this, we were joined by Agnes Gitau, GBS Africa Managing Partner and a board member of the Eastern Africa Association.

#DemocraticRepublicofCongo #EastAfricanCommunity #DRC

The yen is in focus for investors, as it hovers near a six-year low and continues to weaken. On Monday, the Bank of Japan offered to buy unlimited amounts of 10-year government bonds for the first four days of this week. And finance minister Shunichi Suzuki says the government is keeping a close eye on currency markets to avoid what he describes as a "bad yen weakening".

For more, AJ Bell financial analyst, Danni Hewson joined us from Huddersfield, UK.

#JapanYen #BankofJapan #YenDepreciation

Oil prices are down sharply after China placed the financial hub Shanghai under lockdown due to rising coronavirus infections. The international benchmark Brent fell more than 5%, and is now trading at around $115 a barrel. Fresh COVID-19 restrictions in the city of 26M people are exacerbating concerns over a possible dip in demand for fuel from the world's biggest crude importer.

We were joined by AvaTrade chief market analyst, Naeem Aslam in Bodrum, Türkiye,

#ShanghaiLockdown #OilDemand #PandemicinChina

The European Union is set to announce a deal to import more natural gas from the US. That new supply will replace Russian shipments that the bloc wants to eliminate, over Moscow's military operation in Ukraine. According to reports, the US would sell an additional 15B cubic metres of liquefied natural gas or LNG to Europe this year. That would add to the 22B cubic metres a year that American firms already sell to customers in the bloc.

We were joined by Osama Rizvi, energy and economic analyst at Primary Vision in Lahore, Pakistan.

#LiquefiedNaturalGas #EuropeanUnion #LNGDeal

Russia and Ukraine usually supply about a third of the world's wheat. Since the conflict began, aid agencies have warned of potential food shortages and price increases. They say North Africa and the Middle East are particularly at risk, as the regions rely heavily on Ukrainian wheat. And in Lebanon, a grain shortage could be devastating. Imogen Kimber reports from Beirut.

We were joined by Imogen Kimber in Beirut, to hear more about the situation there.

#GrainShortage #LebanonPoverty #FoodPrices