1. Softening Oil Sector Puts Brakes On Saudi Growth

    ...in Q2 according to preliminary government figures, to 5.5% from Q1’s 5.4%. It has now notched up five consecutive quarters above 5% for the first time since 2014. However, given the extent to which the economy is dominated by the oil and gas sector – which is itself undergoing an extensive ca...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 04 Aug 2023
  2. Saudi Arabia Rockets Towards $250bn Trade Surplus

    ...RTHER        Saudi Arabia is investing heavily to diversify its revenues and has successfully built up its tax base, but when it comes to export revenues, oil remains dominant at some 80% of the total. And oil revenues climbed to their highest level since at least 2014 in June according to the latest go...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 34
    Published at Fri, 26 Aug 2022
  3. Oman’s Economy Rebounds With $2bn 1H Surplus

    ...08. Q2’s surplus of $1.12bn was up fractionally on Q1 (MEES, 27 May) for the highest quarterly figure since Q1 2014. Revenues were up across the board, with total 1H revenue of $17.47bn up 54% on 1H 2021 for the highest 1H figure since 2014 (see chart). Oman is on track to smash the plans set out in...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 12 Aug 2022
  4. Qatar Export Revenues Soar Amid Tight LNG Market

    ...port revenues of $63.1bn – and ought to overtake 2021 full-year figures of $73.56bn during the current quarter. For 2022 as a whole a figure close to 2014’s $113bn hydrocarbon exports is on the cards. The eight-year high export figures pushed Qatar’s trade surplus up to $47.6bn over the first half of...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 05 Aug 2022
  5. Saudi Deficit Shrinks To Two Year Low

    ...Six months into 2021 and Saudi Arabia looks on course to post its smallest annual deficit since the 2014 oil price crash, even if spending picks up in the second half. Saudi Arabia has posted its smallest quarterly budget deficit in more than two years, with the figure shrinking to just $1....

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 13 Aug 2021
  6. Qatar Export Revenues Soar To Highest Level Since 2018

    ...bn+/quarter days of 2014 when oil prices were around $100/B. While those prices remain a long way off, Qatar is investing heavily in a bid to boost export revenues substantially. Qatar earlier this year took FID on the four-train $28.75bn North Field East (NFE) expansion project which is slated to in...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 06 Aug 2021
  7. Egypt: IOC Receivables Edge Lower In 1H 2020

    ...id off, with Egypt’s Council of Ministers on 19 August approving a settlement of the dispute. No details were given. Egypt’s overall receivables figure peaked at over $6bn in 2014. Key offshore gas producers Eni, BP and Shell have not reported receivables figures since 2016 – though Eni’s 1H re...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 35
    Published at Fri, 28 Aug 2020
  8. Saudi Electricity Borrows $2.4bn

    ...d capex funding. SEC’s biggest year for lending from the financial market was 2016, when it raised $5.13bn, although its largest deal was a $13.2bn Ministry of Finance ‘soft loan’ in 2014 (see table and MEES, 26 January 2018). SEC’s need for capex will likely be reduced by its decision to pursue in...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 35
    Published at Fri, 28 Aug 2020
  9. Egypt’s Debts To IOCs Again On The Rise

    ...w Cairo wrack up arrears of over $6bn by mid-2014 (MEES, 8 August 2014). A $12bn IMF program agreed in late 2016 brought financial stability: receivables fell to $900mn by mid-2019 and just $200mn by January this year. The Covid-19 pandemic now risks a return to the bad days. Receivables owed le...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 07 Aug 2020
  10. Algeria: More Output Declines, More Protests

    ...ficit for the first half of the year brings the total deficits racked up since the 2014 oil price crash to a whopping $53.1bn. Highlighting just how dependent Algeria is on its energy sector is the fact that the 6.6% year-on-year fall in export revenues in the first half was exactly the same as the fall in...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 34
    Published at Fri, 23 Aug 2019
  11. Kuwait Slashes 2018-19 Deficit Thanks To Higher Oil Prices

    ...P. Kuwait’s economic performance has been lackluster since oil prices slumped in late 2014. Real GDP contracted by 3.5% in 2017, before rising by 1.7% in 2018 and a forecast 2.5% in 2019, according to the IMF. The World Bank is more pessimistic, forecasting growth of just 1.6% for 2019.      For th...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 33
    Published at Fri, 16 Aug 2019
  12. Algeria Halves Trade Deficit, Thanks To Higher Oil Prices

    ...tal exports, though this would be the lowest share since the turn of the millennium. Based on year to date figures and the current oil futures price, MEES estimates that for 2018 as a whole Algeria will earn $42.2bn in export revenues, up 17% on 2017’s $35.2bn and the highest figure since 2014 wh...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 35
    Published at Fri, 31 Aug 2018
  13. Record Products Sales And VAT Bolster Saudi Economy

    ...tting it on track for a full year figure of $22.2bn. This would be barely one third of last year’s deficit, the lowest since 2014’s $17.5bn and $30bn less than budgeted for. And this is despite spending being on track to come in just $4bn below the budgeted figure of $260.8bn, the highest since 2015 (se...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 34
    Published at Fri, 24 Aug 2018
  14. Oman: Oil Prices Bolster Economy, For Now

    ...ternational observers are nonetheless troubled by the underlying economics—a fact reflected in rating agencies’ decision to downgrade Oman’s economic outlook several times following the 2014 oil price crash (MEES, 24 November 2017). S&P rates Oman as ‘junk’ status. Unlike fellow GCC members, Oman’s more mo...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 33
    Published at Fri, 17 Aug 2018
  15. Qatar Export Revenues Hit Three-Year High Despite Continued Embargo

    ...gh of more than $80bn for 2018 as a whole (see chart 1). Still well down on the years to 2014 where Qatar racked up $130bn+ revenue. Provisional trade data show that Qatar’s export revenue rose to $20.8bn in 2Q 2018, the highest since the first quarter in 2015 (see chart 2). But these gains also sh...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 03 Aug 2018
  16. Kuwait Fiscal Deficit Falls By 19% To $16bn For 2017-18

    ...y fall below $10bn. After recording successive budget surpluses since 2000, Kuwait in 2014-15 posted its first budget deficit of $8.9bn following the collapse in oil prices in mid-2014, and has yet to emerge from the red. CATCH 22          Total revenue in 2017-18 jumped by 20% in real te...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 03 Aug 2018
  17. Oman Set To Shrink Deficit, But Not By Much

    ...% of Oman’s total export revenues. Presuming that non-hydrocarbon revenues and imports held roughly steady in Q2, the figures for oil and gas imply that Oman notched up a trade surplus of $2.56bn in the first half of 2017 the highest figure since 2014 when Oman notched up a $22.2bn trade surplus on th...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 34
    Published at Fri, 25 Aug 2017
  18. Egypt Secures Saudi-UAE Cash For IMF Facility

    ...volving further devaluation of the Egyptian pound. Egyptian officials reiterated this week that the government plans to end fuel subsidies within three years. This tallies with its earlier plan unveiled in July 2014 to phase out fuel subsidies over a period of five years. Spending on petroleum su...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 34
    Published at Fri, 26 Aug 2016
  19. IMF Loan To Egypt Will Need To Be Supplemented With Serious Reforms

    ...more than a decade (see p16). Egypt has cut its spending on petroleum subsidies by 23% from E£71.5bn in 2014-15 to E£55bn in 2015-16, with a further cut to E£35bn projected in the 2016-17 budget, according to state-oil firm EGPC.  ...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 33
    Published at Fri, 19 Aug 2016
  20. Algeria’s Trade Balance Worsens As Government Ponders Austerity Policy

    ...ocess looks set to be lengthy. The value of Algerian exports fell by 33% to $12.68bn in the first half of 2016 from $18.93bn in the corresponding period of 2015. This equates to $25.36bn on an annualized basis, down by 33% on 2015 and 60% of 2014 (see table). Oil and gas export earnings in the first si...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 12 Aug 2016