The oil-exporting countries of the Persian Gulf, from Qatar to Saudi Arabia, are turning to the public to sell debt as shrinking oil revenues erode their budgets. Qatar, which owns Continue Reading
Qatar will scrap gasoline and diesel subsidies next month as the world’s richest nation per capita is set to plunge into deficit this year after more than a decade of Continue Reading
The preliminary agreement by Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar to freeze output has already put a floor under crude prices and a deal this weekend to include other producers Continue Reading
For the Gulf states, maintaining unity becomes all the more important amid economic slowdown. Click here to continue reading… Stratfor provides global awareness and guidance to individuals, governments and businesses Continue Reading
Gulf Cooperation Council countries may struggle to refinance $94 billion of debt in the next two years as the region faces slowing growth, rising rates and rating downgrades, according to Continue Reading
Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino, on a tour of oil producers to lobby for action to prop up prices, said on Thursday he had a “good and productive” meeting Continue Reading
A caustic slogan is doing the rounds on social networks in the Gulf states this festive season: “All I want for Christmas is for oil prices to go up.” Gloom Continue Reading
The six oil ministries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will meet Wednesday to discuss the possibility of unifying the prices of oil products, Kuwait’s oil ministry said in a statement late Sunday. The meeting, planned for Doha will be attended by undersecretaries from each of the ministries — from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia andthe United Arab Emirates– according to state-run KUNA news agency. The group will review a memo prepared with the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) to increase cooperation on energy and petroleum strategy. The Kuwaiti ministry highlighted the importance of the Doha meeting in light of rapid changes in the global oil industry and the need for stability, KUNA reported. Article continues below… Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, upstream and downstream markets, refineries, midstream transportation and financial reports Supply and demand […]
Qatar has recently passed Lichtenstein to occupy the position as the world’s wealthiest nation. Despite claims from tourist sites that the country owes its economic fame to the 19th century pearl industry , the true source of Qatar’s fortunes lies under its windswept sands. Qatar, it is estimated, has the largest non-associated (i.e., not found with oil) natural gas fields in the world. The primary company charged with excavating and exporting the natural gas, is Qatar’s domestic Qatargas which, despite being partially owned by foreign investors, serves to fill the country’s coffers. Established in 1984, just 10 years after Qatar nationalized its energy resources, Qatargas pioneered the technique of creating liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Middle East. Today, Qatargas is the largest producer of LNG on the planet. Natural gas has substantially contributed to building Qatar’s national identity. From the futuristic skyline of Doha to the extravagant lifestyle […]
ENLARGE A construction site in Doha, Qatar, which is pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure projects in the runup to its hosting of the 2022 soccer World Cup. Photo: Zuma Press The Qatari government risks posting a budget deficit in 2016 as low oil prices continue to pose a challenge to energy-dependent nations, the International Monetary Fund said. Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas and those revenues have allowed the Persian Gulf nation to pour billions of dollars into the country’s infrastructure as it tries to reduce its dependence on energy-related income and as it prepares to host the soccer World Cup in 2022 . For years, Qatar benefited from an oil price that hovered above $100 a barrel but in the past six months that fell to about $60 . More than 90% of Qatar’s budget revenues and exports stem from activities tied to […]
ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is close to striking a long-term deal worth potentially $22.5 billion or more to import liquefied natural gas to help fuel the country’s power stations and ease its crippling electricity crisis, Pakistan’s top energy official said. “We are negotiating with Qatar and a few other sources,” said Pakistani Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “The deal will be very competitive and very beneficial for Pakistan.” An agreement with Qatar is expected by early March, Pakistani officials say. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to office in May 2013 on a pledge to reduce the country’s electricity shortages, which see power regularly cut to homes and businesses for eight or more hours a day. Tackling the electricity deficit, however, has thus far largely eluded Mr. Sharif’s government. The government has promised to eradicate the electricity shutdowns, known as load shedding, by the […]
Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) called off plans to build a $6.5 billion petrochemical plant in the emirate, saying the project is no longer commercially feasible amid the upheaval in global energy markets. The companies formed a partnership for the al-Karaana project in 2011 and planned to operate it as a joint venture, with state-run QP owning 80 percent and Shell the remaining 20 percent. They decided not to proceed after evaluating quotations from bidders for engineering and construction work, the companies said today in a joint statement. The expected capital cost of the petrochemical complex planned in Ras Laffan industrial city “has rendered it commercially unfeasible, particularly in the current economic climate prevailing in the energy industry ,” they said. Al-Karaana is the second petrochemical project in Qatar to be canceled in recent months due to unfavorable economics. Industries Qatar, the state-controlled petrochemical and steel […]
The boom that adorned Gulf Arab monarchies with glittering towers, swelled their sovereign funds and kept unrest largely at bay may be over after oil prices dropped by almost 50 percent in the last six months. The sheikhdoms have used the oil wealth to remake their region. Landmarks include man-made islands on reclaimed land, as well as financial centers, airports and ports that turned the Arabian desert into a banking and travel hub. The money was also deployed to ward off social unrest that spread through the Middle East during the Arab Spring. “The region has had 10 years of abundance,” said Simon Williams , HSBC Holdings Plc’s chief economist for central and eastern Europe , the Middle East and North Africa. “But that decade of plenty is done. The drop in oil prices will hurt performance in the near term, even if the Gulf’s buffers are powerful enough […]
CAIRO — Standing at the front of a conference hall in Doha, the visiting sheikh told his audience of wealthy Qataris that to help the battered residents of Syria, they should not bother with donations to humanitarian programs or the Western-backed Free Syrian Army. “Give your money to the ones who will spend it on jihad, not aid,” implored the sheikh, Hajaj al-Ajmi, recently identified by the United States government as a fund-raiser for Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate. Qatar is a tiny, petroleum-rich Persian Gulf monarchy where the United States has its largest military base in the Middle East. But for years it has tacitly consented to open fund-raising by Sheikh Ajmi and others like him. After his pitch, which he recorded in 2012 and which still circulates on the Internet, a sportscaster from the government-owned network, Al Jazeera, lauded him. “Sheikh Ajmi knows best” about helping Syrians, the […]
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have issued a joint statement withdrawing their ambassadors from Qatar. "The three states have decided to start taking measures they see fit to protect their security and stability, affirming that they are safeguarding the interests of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, including neighbouring Qatar," the statement read. Qatar has failed to "stick to the principles of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states and refraining from supporting all who threaten the security of the council states," the statement added. In response, Qatar said it "regrets" the move, but will not reciprocate, AFP reported Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani committed to a security agreement during a meeting with Kuwait’s emir and the Saudi monarch in Riyadh on 23 November 2013. Calls for Qatar to abide by the agreement were reiterated on 17 February in Kuwait and again during a […]
