• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 7 hours GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 2 days How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 12 days By Kellen McGovern Jones - "BlackRock Behind New TX-LA Offshore Wind Farm"
  • 4 hours If hydrogen is the answer, you're asking the wrong question
  • 7 days Solid State Lithium Battery Bank
  • 6 days Bad news for e-cars keeps coming
China Begins Work on Massive Afghan Copper Mine

China Begins Work on Massive Afghan Copper Mine

China and the Taliban initiate…

Net-Zero Ambitions Hit Major Roadblocks in Europe, UK, and US

Net-Zero Ambitions Hit Major Roadblocks in Europe, UK, and US

Net-Zero transition targets touted so…

Qatar Comfortable With Current Oil Prices As Fiscal Pressure Drops

Higher oil prices since the OPEC deal have eased some of the burden on Qatar, whose government may not issue international debt this year, finance minister Ali Sherif al-Emadi said on Tuesday.

We may not issue a bond this year given where oil prices are - right now we are close to break-even,” Reuters quoted Emadi as saying at a briefing.

Qatar – which ran a rare budget deficit in 2016 due to the low oil prices – expects the deficit to drop this year. The 2017 budget has pegged oil prices at around US$45, and seeing where oil prices are now, the deficit this year may be close to zero, Emadi noted.

Nevertheless, Qatar will continue to lower government spending and reduce government operating expenses, the minister added.

In order to keep strict fiscal discipline, Qatar would not be drawing down its sovereign wealth fund to finance its deficit, the minister said.

Qatar is spending around US$500 million weekly on capital projects, and it is investing heavily in preparations to host the 2022 World Cup.

The minister sees the economy of the world’s largest LNG exporter growing by between 3.4 percent and 3.5 percent in 2017.

In its latest mission assessment, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also expects Qatar’s GDP growth at 3.4 percent this year, on the back of expansion in the non-hydrocarbon sector due to World Cup-related spending and supported by additional output from the new Barzan gas project.

Related: Saudis To Raise $10 Billion Ahead Of Aramco IPO

Unlike many other oil and gas exporters, Qatar financed its fiscal deficit mostly via domestic and foreign borrowing without using its sovereign wealth fund. Qatar has already raised a total of US$14.5 billion of external debt and issued US$2.6 billion of domestic bonds and Islamic bonds, or sukuk, the IMF said.

In a sign that Qatar is looking to seize growth opportunities, Qatar’s state-run flagship company Qatar Petroleum seeks to grow its LNG production and reserves outside Qatar, according to CEO Saad al-Kaabi.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:



Join the discussion | Back to homepage



Leave a comment

Leave a comment

EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News