Oil sector lifts Abu Dhabi’s Q1 GDP by 5.7%

Abu Dhabi’s real gross domesic product (GDP) grew by 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, largely driven by growth in the oil sector, the emirate’s statistics department said on Tuesday.

The emirate’s GDP totalled Dhs207bn ($56.4m) in the quarter compared to Dhs196bn in the year-ago period, the Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi (SCAD) said.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, has the biggest hydrocarbon reserves among the seven emirates.

The emirate is investing billions of dollars in industry, tourism and infrastructure to diversify its economy away from oil.

The growth in Abu Dhabi’s economy during the first quarter of 2019 was driven by the growth in the oil sector, while non-oil activities continued to post steady growth rates, Rashid Abdul Karim al Balooshi, acting under-secretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development said. Abu Dhabi’s oil GDP jumped 12.8 Per cent year-on-year to Dhs106.8bn, accounting for 51.6 per cent of the emirate’s GDP in the first quarter 2019.

Rating agency Moody’s had said earlier this year that the re-imposition of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production cuts late last year has constrained the near-term outlook for hydrocarbons production in Abu Dhabi.

Although Moody’s said a ramp up in production just prior to the announcement of the cuts has resulted in a production allocation for 2019, slightly larger than last year’s production.

UAE, the third-largest oil producer in OPEC, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq, pumps around 3 million barrels per day.

It plans to boost output to 4 million bpd by 2020.

Most of that oil is produced by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC).