The downstream and local content oil & gas and petrochemical industry conference- BDFEX 2019 convened regional corporations, SMEs, investors and entrepreneurs to discuss numbers which indicates that the global oil and gas industry needs investments worth over $20 trillion over the next 25 years in order to meet expected demand growth and compensate for the natural decline in mature fields.
During conference, speakers marked that oil market is clearly moving back towards balance after it lost $1 trillion in investments during 2014 to 2016 where oil prices dragged down. The oil market will attract regional and international investors to invest in the oil and gas industry in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
furthermore, speakers noted that GCC industrial investments is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2020, stressing the importance of strengthening SME’s role and their contribution to the GDP, pointing out that Saudi Aramco is earmarking $500 billion to invest over the next 10 years, including $160 billion for natural gas developments and $100 billion for chemicals projects.
Dr. Khaled Bumtaia, CEO of PROACT, said: “BDFEX achieved its objective through its sessions and meetings to attract investors and business leaders in the oil and gas industry to network and discuss reducing cost, increasing innovation, addressing R&D challenges and improving the downstream industry”
For his part, Dr. Mohamed Al Khaldi, CEO of the United Gulf Industrial Consortia, said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia provides an attractive business environment, multiple incentives and various facilities that have contributed to enhancing Saudi Arabia’s position on the industrial map locally, regionally and globally, and attracting industries of all kinds, thus ranked first in the GCC in investments volume”
Dr. Bomtaia further pointed out that Saudi Arabia seeks diversifying no-oil source of income in the line with its 2030 vision, stressing the importance of the approach implemented by Saudi Arabia to develop and innovate investments in the oil and gas and petrochemical industry.