GCC oil sector growth seen to slow on output decline

Real hydrocarbon sector’s gross domestic product, or GDP, growth in the GCC is expected to decelerate from 4.5 per cent in 2012 to around one per cent in 2013 on the back of an expected slowdown in oil production, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, or NBAD, said.
.“Any pressure on oil prices will limit gains in heavyweight petrochemical stocks. However, non-oil GDP growth is forecast to remain stable in 2013 at 5.5 per cent, similar to 2012 levels, with the contribution of non-oil GDP expected to increase in the future,” the bank said in its “GCC Economic Developments & Outlook 2013.”

The bank has also predicted that in 2013, GCC’s nominal GDP is forecast to rise to $1.61 trillion while UAE’s nominal GDP is projected at $368 billion.

The Washington-based Institute for International Finance, or IIF, said in a study that the economies of the Gulf and other regional countries could decline in 2013 due to lower oil output after growing by around 5.5 per cent in 2012. “Overall growth is projected to moderate to 3.9 per cent in 2013, as crude oil production will be restrained in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE,” it said.

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