Egypt has invited tenders to meet its refined oil products needs for October after Saudi Aramco halted the expected delivery of 700,000 tonnes for this month, the petroleum ministry said on Tuesday.

The move by the Saudi oil giant was a surprise as Riyadh has been one of the main regional backers of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and had agreed to finance Egyptian imports from Aramco for five years in a $23 billion deal reached in April.

Saudi Arabia's state-run energy giant Saudi Aramco is optimistic 2018 will be the right time for its IPO in what will likely be the biggest share offering in history, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Amin Nasser confirmed that around five percent of Saudi Aramco's share capital is expected to be sold in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) but emphasized the final decision lay with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Samsung Electronics plunged eight percent Tuesday after it called an unprecedented halt to sales of its troubled Galaxy Note 7 handset, while most regional markets struggled to maintain an early energy-fueled rally.

The world's biggest smartphone maker dragged Seoul's KOSPI down 1.2 percent after it told customers to stop using their Galaxy Note 7 devices and called a halt to worldwide sales, as US officials warned the phones could blow up.

Brazil's lower house on Monday approved a proposal to cap public spending increases for 20 years, a key component of new President Michel Temer's economic recovery program.

Turkey and Russia on Monday signed an inter-governmental agreement on realizing the construction of the planned TurkStream gas pipeline to pump Russian gas under Turkish waters in the Black Sea towards Europe.

President Vladimir Putin on Monday said that non-OPEC member Russia was ready to join measures to limit oil production, saying that this was the only way to balance the market after a prolonged period of low prices.

Royal Dutch Shell confirmed Monday that it had signed an initial deal with Iran's National Petrochemical Company, paving the way for its return to the Islamic republic. 

Facebook paid £4.17 million ($5.18 million, 4.63 million euros) in British corporation tax last year, up from just £4,327 in 2014, accounts showed Sunday.

Two U.S.-based academics won the Nobel Economics Prize on Monday for groundbreaking research on contract theory that has helped design insurance policies, executive pay and even prison management.

Saudi Arabia said on Monday it was "not unthinkable" that the price of crude oil could surge to $60 a barrel by the end of the year but warned against drastic production cuts that might shock markets.

Speaking in the opening keynote speech at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said that whatever the oil price the kingdom was in good shape to implement its reform vision to transform the structure of its crude-based economy by 2030.