Arab countries’ energy sector attracts projects worth $406bn

Image credit: Saudi Aramco

The oil and gas sector in Arab countries attracted 610 projects, with an investment of $406bn, from 356 foreign and local companies between January 2003 and May 2024, according to the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman).

The US topped the list of foreign investors in the oil and gas sector across the Arab world, with 85 projects representing about 14 per cent of the total. Earlier in March, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) approved a $500m loan guarantee for Bahrain’s Bapco Energies, an oil and gas drilling project.

The report revealed that Russia ranked first in terms of investment costs, with a value of $61.5bn, representing 15.2 per cent of the total foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worldwide.

The Arab region’s proven oil reserves are expected to drop to 704 billion barrels in 2024, representing 41.3 per cent of the global total, with a continued decline of 7 per cent to 654.5 billion barrels expected by the end of the decade.

Similarly, proven natural gas reserves in the region are projected to reach 58 trillion cubic metres, approximately 26.8 per cent of the global total, with a decline of 7.5 per cent to 53.53 trillion cubic metres expected in 2030.

Read: US export credit agency approves support for Bahrain oil project