For GCC countries that have remained one of the largest suppliers of Oil and Gas, recent years have brought a phenomenal growth in their domestic consumption of hydrocarbons as feedstock to meet the needs of their growing and diversifying economies. This heavy reliance on hydrocarbons has necessitated a relook at the energy mix for all these countries. The large producers such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar that are also large consumers with their larger domestic needs cutting down on their exportable surplus of the hydrocarbons, countries such as Oman and Bahrain have even had to import gas to meet their rising demand for the non-renewable fuels. They have thus been forced to increase investments in the energy sector to maintain the balance between meeting domestic demand and feeding the growing export markets. While investments in the energy sector across the GCC total US$ 470 billion between 2010 and 2015, oil and gas accounted for 47 percent and 36 percent, respectively of the total.
This struggle to meet and feed the energy needs of GCC economies has spawned the growth of projects in the field of renewables in recent years, though oil and gas continue to dominate the investment portfolio of GCC countries. Of the oil and gas projects, upstream new explorations are few and far between, while upgrades to existing oil and gas wells and downstream projects have gained in importance. Contracts worth US$ 84,989 million were awarded in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry in 2011. GCC countries are vying with each other to improve their refining capacities while taking advantage of the latest technologies offered by International Oil and Gas Companies through joint ventures with contracts worth US$ 361,821 million awarded across refining, petrochemical and storage tanks projects in 2011.
This report explores the current position of the GCC oil and gas industry, its regulatory framework, its current and future focus areas, while also providing the latest statistics on the contracts awarded across the GCC Oil and Gas industry with forecasts of contractor awards between 2011 and 2013, statistics on the oil and gas production, consumption and reserves along with a comparison of the potential of the individual countries in hydrocarbons and renewables.
The study also provides valuable insights into the renewables focus of the GCC countries with an impact assessment of the possible shifts in energy mix of the GCC countries in the future on key macroeconomic indicators.
