Downstream projects suffer as Gulf spending tightened

Several new developments are about to come on stream. New proposed ones will be delayed by the weak oil price

The Gulf is a region where the timelines of proposed oil and gas projects are often flexible or ill-defined, making it difficult to judge the impact of the oil price fall on investment plans. Burgeoning financial reserves mean no one is panicking yet, either. Nonetheless, a spate of project delays suggests that a more cautious approach to spending is being adopted, especially for the downstream.“Three critical issues continue to confront investors and project sponsors,” Ali Aissaoui, senior consultant at the Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation, said in a January commentary. “Rising project costs, scarcity of supply of natural gas and ethane, as well as funding restrictions. Of the three, t