Experts calls Gulf countries to brace for low oil price for long term

Gulf states which depend heavily on energy exports for most of their revenues should brace for a long period of low oil prices and subdued economic growth, experts warned on Wednesday.

Signs of an "economic war" between the United States and China, the world's largest economies, and an expected global economic slowdown starting next year will dampen demand for oil, the experts told a conference in Dubai.

"Oil prices will remain low for a long period," former Lebanese minister of economy and trade Nasser Saidi told the one-day Arab Strategy Forum.

A cooling of the global economy will reduce demand for oil, which coupled with rising competition from renewable energy sources and shale crude will lead to low oil prices, said Saidi, who is now a consultant.

"This will negatively impact growth in the whole (Arab) region...The whole area will face a financial and economic crisis," he said.

The six-member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) earn more than 80 per cent of their revenues from energy.

The GCC states -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- have lost hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenues since crude prices crashed in mid-2014.

Oil prices later rebounded after OPEC and non-OPEC producers reduced their production.

But they slid again when producers boosted output earlier this year to compensate for expected losses from Iran because of the re-imposition of US sanctions.

Oil prices have lost more than a quarter of their value compared with a four-year peak over USD 85 a barrel seen in October, with benchmark Brent crude trading at around USD 61 a barrel in London on Wednesday.

World Bank senior vice president Mahmoud Mohieldin warned that economic growth in the GCC region was still dependent on oil price movements.

"Now, we are at a time of uncertainty ... Growth in Gulf states is forecast at three per cent next year ... but this could be revised," following the drop in oil prices, Mohieldin said.

He said that the unemployment rate among Arab youths is 30 per cent and higher among females, adding that growth is not producing enough jobs.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers decided last week to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day from January to shore up prices, which some analysts warned would hit economic growth.

"We think that the OPEC deal will have an overall negative impact on GDP (gross domestic product) growth in the Gulf over the coming quarters," London-based consultancy firm Capital Economics said last week.

(With inputs from agencies.)