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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera

The future of oil jobs in the Middle East

The future of oil jobs in the Middle East

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and 11 other oil-producing nations have extended oil production cuts until March 2018 in an attempt to drain the global oversupply of oil and prop up the price of crude.

Saudi Arabia led the push to extend the curbs, but oil prices have risen less than OPEC countries have hoped for. And that's because oil at current prices is enough to bring US producers back into the market.

What will OPEC's production cut extension mean for energy jobs in the region?

Cian Brennan from the consultants Turner and Townsend looks at what changes are coming for the Middle East's oil industry.

Also on this episode of Counting the Cost:

Food trends: How is our obsession with photographing food altering the way the restaurant industry looks at itself?

Taking photos of what you eat and posting them to forums such as Instagram is a global social phenomenon that seems to be growing. Cloud eggs, Unicorn Frappuccinos and avocado toast all have one thing in common: Social media made them a hit.

There are 208 million posts that have been hashtagged "food" on the photosharing app since it was founded in 2010. This has compelled restaurants, food growers and the retail market to pay attention.

When a trend catches on, it can have a big impact. For instance, avocado prices are at their highest in data going back 19 years. Shares of Starbucks are near all-time highs too, and it's said the Unicorn Frappuccino coffee trend is a factor.

Fern Potter, a global digital partner at Carat, analyses what happens when the camera eats first.

Asian growth dynamics: Japan has been getting a lot of positive press lately with May's quarterly GDP up 2.2 percent. The International Monetary Fund said back in April that the economy has been performing well. Welcome news indeed as that marked the country's longest economic expansion in 11 years, helped by government stimulus.

Meanwhile, financial chiefs in Hong Kong and China issued statements saying that they disagree with the credit rating agency Moody's decision to lower their credit rating. Moody's cut China's debt to A1 from Aa3, saying it won't be able to control a credit boom, while Hong Kong's debt downgraded to Aa2 from Aa1 because of its close ties to the mainland. Both governments issued statements saying Moody's was wrong.

Geoff Lewis, the senior Asia strategist with Manulife Asset Management, shares his view from Hong Kong.

Ford's new CEO: The American car giant Ford has replaced its chief executive. Mark Fields seems to have taken the hit for the auto firm's falling profits and huge decline in its share price. He's being replaced by the company's self-driving cars chief, Jim Hackett. Alan Fisher reports.

Somalia's fishermen: Fishermen in Somalia say they are being pushed towards piracy because illegal fishing is hurting their livelihood. They say flotillas from countries such as Yemen, Iran and South Korea are plundering Somalia's rich fishing grounds. Mohammed Adow reports from Bosaso, Somalia.

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