GCC refining capacity to up 43% by 2015

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This will represent 5.2 percent of the world’s total capacity compared with 4.2 percent now, the ratings agency said.

Refining capacity expansion plans are part of government efforts in the region to boost output of value-added products on the back of their huge crude production.

The GCC countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – account for 40 percent of the world’s oil reserves and 23 percent of its gas reserve.

They account for 23 percent of total world oil production and eight percent of total gas production.

Moody’s said the vast majority of the GCC’s oil and gas exports are directed to Asia-Pacific markets and they will continue to be crucial for Asian energy requirements in the future.

“The geographic proximity of GCC countries to the largest Asian markets as well as their close diplomatic and trade relationships provide considerable benefits to the regional hydrocarbon industry. The region is well positioned to capture most of the expected demand growth in these markets,” Moody’s said in the analysis.

Asia last year received 66 percent of GCC energy exports, while 18 percent went to North America and 10 percent to Western Europe.

The GCC earned $ 460 billion from energy exports last year amid high oil prices, but this year their revenues will be are “expected to decline significantly” as a result of reduced demand and lower oil prices, Moody’s said.

 

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