German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday she was open to the creation of a finance minister and budget for the eurozone as proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Qatar Airways' outspoken boss Akbar al-Baker accused neighboring Gulf states Thursday of "bullying" his country during the region's political crisis and said his company's profits would be hit by the dispute.

Qatar Airways and Abu Dhabi's Etihad said Thursday they were disappointed with an American Airlines decision to end its codeshare relationships with them as part of its push against government subsidies of Middle Eastern carriers.

French auto giant Peugeot Citroen (PSA) said Thursday global sales rose slightly in the first half with its Iran comeback compensating for problems in China where volumes plunged by almost 50 percent.

Turkey's Energy Minister Berat Albayrak is set to visit Israel by the end of this year to conclude an agreement for the building of a natural gas pipeline from the Jewish state to Turkey, the Israeli energy minister said on Wednesday. 

China appears to be considering further reforms to its foreign exchange market such as reduced state meddling and freer trading of the yuan, but analysts are skeptical about its efforts to relax currency controls.

Iraq says it will offer new oil and gas exploration rights as it looks to boost energy revenues to fund its war against the Islamic State group and shore up its finances amid low oil prices.

Oil Minister Jabar Ali Al-Luaibi said late Tuesday that his ministry plans to put nine border exploration blocks up for bidding by international energy companies. Five are shared with Iran, three with Kuwait and one is in the Persian Gulf.

A fresh rally in oil prices boosted energy firms in Asia on Wednesday although most equity markets struggled after two days of gains, while confidence was given a knock by fresh revelations regarding Donald Trump's Russia links.

Greece supports Cyprus' "sovereign rights" to exploit gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Tuesday, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned global energy companies not to strike any deal with the island.

The use of electric cars is set to grow in the coming years, but this will not spell the end of demand for oil, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.