A senior Kuwait oil official said on Sunday that oil sales were proceeding normally despite an Iraqi military build-up north of the border. “KPC is supplying its customers with their requirements in the normal way,” Mr. Hussein Shamma, executive assistant managing director (marketing), for Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) told Reuters by telephone. “Supplies to all our customers are assured. There is no change,” he said, referring to all KPC sales including crude oil and refined products. The Kuwaiti dinar was steady against the dollar despite increased cash market demand for the US currency amid concern over an Iraqi troop build-up, bankers said. The Central Bank set the Emirate’s currency at 297.59/69 fils to the dollar. Bankers said that was OJ9 points softer than Thursday but the decline was minuscule and was due to dollar strength internationally.

Nizam palaces turning heritage hotels

The Nizam’s Private Estate (NPE) has a proposal to convert portions of the beautiful Falaknuma palace and the Chowmohalla palaces, both of which have never been opened to the public since Independence, into heritage hotels. The NPE is negotiating with international hotel chains to set up a joint venture and expects to put through the plan early next year. Mr. S. H. Javeri, the principal advisor and Chairman of the NPE, told Business Line here that the NPE proposes to give a portion of the Falaknuma palace to an international hotel chain for a 33-year lease for development and management of the heritage hotel. “We have the property and 225 rooms at the Falaknuma palace. The antiques and the ambience are there. All we need to build are bathrooms for the dwelling rooms,” he says.

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