JULYASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8SOUTH KOREA INFLATION FALLS TO 11-MONTH LOW AS SUPPLY PRESSURES EASESAUDI ARAMCO SECURES $25 BILLION CONTRACTS FOR JAFURAH GAS PROJECTSouth Korea's buyer expansion debilitated to a 11-month low in June as supply-side tensions facilitated, official information displayed on Tuesday, coming in below market assumptions and giving a help to policymakers.The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.4 percent higher in June from a year sooner, more slow than the 2.7 percent ascend in May and the most vulnerable since July 2023, as per statistics Korea. In addition, it was significantly below the median 2.7 percent rise predicted by an economist survey conducted by Reuters. Customer expansion is supposed to balance out to the lower-to-mid 2 percent level in the second half, the country's vice finance minister said, vowing continued policy measures to keep prices under control.In the assessment, the Bank of Korea (BOK) stated that it views the fact that inflation has converged with its 2 percent target and will monitor the situation to see if it does so. After rising by 0.1 percent in the previous month, the index experienced its first monthly decline in seven months, falling 0.2 percent. By product, costs of farming products fell 5.3 percent over the course of the month while petroleum goods lost 2.9 percent, hauling the record lower.BOK governor Rhee Chang-yong said last month the speed of consumer inflation is probably going to keep on easing back, taking care of assumptions the central bank will begin cutting loan costs towards the end of this current year. In May, the BOK extended its interest rate pause for the eleventh time in a row. Saudi Aramco, a leading energy company in the world has awarded $25 billion worth of contracts for the development of its Jafurah gas project to increase production capacity and cut emissions that contribute to global warming, as per sources.The contracts that were presented include $12.4 billion for increasing production at the Jafurah gas field and $8.8 billion for expanding the master gas system, which delivers natural gas to buyers across the nation. Gas rig contracts worth $2.4 billion were also awarded by Aramco, as per company statement,Saudi Arabia has the greatest gas reserves across the globe, and the improvement of such a reserve in the Jafurah field, which is assessed to hold 200 trillion cubic feet of flammable gas will cost almost $100 billion. This will expand Aramco's natural gas production more than 60 percent by 2030 which is important for the rising interest, as indicated by the company executive."The scale of our ongoing investment at Jafurah and the expansion of our Master Gas System underscores our intention to further integrate and grow our gas business to meet anticipated rising demand," said Nasser.The nation's domestic industries will be supplied with the natural gas produced by the project. Any excess capacity will likely be used to produce blue hydrogen or exported to other nations as Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), as per aramco. NEWSROOM
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