Power dominates MENA energy investment plans – Oil & Gas Journal

Electric power accounts for most energy investment planned in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) during the next 5 years as oil and gas spending recovers in the region’s major oil-producing countries.

Arab Petroleum Investments Corp. (Apicorp), Dammam, projects 5-year energy spending of $919 billion in MENA countries. Of that, $345 billion is for projects under execution, and $574 billion is for planned development.

The development bank expects investment in Saudi Arabia to total $149 billion during the period, much of it in upstream oil and gas. It sees a similar pattern in the United Arab Emirates, where spending will total $72 billion.

Egypt, too, has investment plans totaling $72 billion, more than half for electric power and much of the rest for natural gas.

Kuwait’s spending plans total $59 billion over the next 5 years, more than half for oil projects. The country wants to raise production capacity to 4 million b/d.

In Algeria, development of peripheral accumulations around Hassi Messaoud field accounts for much of the upstream oil and gas portion of spending estimated at $59 billion, according to Apicorp.

Spending will total $67 billion in Iran, although plans are susceptible to the reimposition of sanctions, and $47 billion in Iraq, where oil investment will total $27 billion. Apicorp notes that political risk remains high in both countries.

(Source: Oil & Gas Journal)