Jan. 12--ILLEGAL DUMPING POLLUTES FUJAIRAH'S COAST: Oil pollution has taken its toll on the eastern coast of the UAE emirate of Fujairah, according to SEACOR Environmental Services. Each month, oil is either spilt but more commonly illegally dumped because of lack of tanker reception facilities for waste. It was noted that some of the oil spills were not accidental but were the result of illegal dumping of oil waste products into the sea.

SAUDI ARABIA COULD CUT OIL PRODUCTION: Saudi Arabia plans to cut oil output by up to 300,000 barrels per day below its agreed Opec target. The most influential member of Opec has lowered supply this month to eight million bpd and according to a senior oil executive could cut back to 7.7 million in February. Saudi Arabia wants to prevent a huge stock build-up and a further decline in the oil price.

SAUDI COULD RAISE CAPACITY TO 15M BARRELS: Saudi Arabia could raise its oil production capacity to 15 million barrels a day. That would be almost one-third above the current level of 10.8 million barrels. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia produced 8.4 million barrels of oil daily in December.

ABU DHABI TO BUY MAN FERROSTAAL STAKE: The Abu Dhabi government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company is to buy a controlling 70 percent stake in MAN Ferrostaal. The purchase is expected to be Dhs2.4bn. MAN Ferrostaal is worth Dhs3,466m.

OIL PRICE FALLS BELOW $40: US crude for February delivery fell $2.21 to $39.49 on Friday while London Brent crude was down $1.72 at $42.95, Reuters has reported. The fall is attributed to recent data which showed US slashed payrolls by 524,000 in December, driving the national unemployment rate to its highest level in almost 16 years.

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