Spencer Dale, BP Group Chief Economist, has visited Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia and met with senior Government dignitaries and business partners in the region. During the meetings, they discussed the oil market outlook, key economic trends, and energy dynamics in the Middle East and across the world.

Commenting on the visit, Spencer Dale said, “The Middle East is a key contributor to global energy supplies and will continue to be well into the future. Governments across the Middle East are facing a fiscal challenge with the drop in government revenues from the lower oil prices, but all are taking steps to address this issue.”

BP has been present in the Middle East for more than 100 years, working in both downstream and upstream businesses. Today, in Oman, BP is operating the Khazzan project, one of the biggest tight gas projects in the Middle East. The project is on budget, on schedule and will increase Oman’s total daily gas supply by a third. In Iraq, BP is working to develop the supergiant Rumaila oil field. In the UAE, BP manages upstream activities in Abu Dhabi and a downstream business in Dubai. In Abu Dhabi, BP has had a partnership over many decades bringing together BP’s global technology capability and ADMA’s local expertise. In Kuwait, BP is supporting the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) through the deployment of BP experts into KOC to assist in enhancing production efficiency and reserves growth.

During his meetings in the Middle East, Dale presented BP’s Statistical Review and Energy Outlook to government officials and business partners. For over sixty years, the BP Statistical Review of World Energy has been one of the most authoritative and highly regarded publications on the energy industry and its influence on world economics. The Energy Outlook examines the long-term trends and forces that are likely to shape global energy markets over the next two decades. Spencer Dale commented, “According to the Statistical Review, the Middle East maintains its leading role as the world’s top oil exporter but the share of production exported has declined as a result of rising domestic consumption. We expect energy production in the Middle East to rise 32 per cent by 2035. Consumption grows by 69 per cent, with 97 per cent of demand still met by fossil fuels by the end of the Outlook period. Middle East oil production is expected to expand by 19 per cent, but domestic demand rises by 48 per cent between today and 2035, reducing the share of exported production.”