ABU DHABI: Planned energy investments in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are set to reach $272 billion by 2015, the chairman of the GCC Energy Working Group told a conference Monday. Of the total, $111 billion of those investments are planned in the upstream and downstream oil sectors and $108 billion for the gas value chain, Majid Abdullah Al-Moneef said. The remaining $53 billion will be invested in water and power in the region, said Al-Moneef, who is also a member of the economic and energy committee of the consultative assembly of Saudi Arabia. “These investments ... are to meet the world demand, domestic consumption and (energy) diversification drive,” he said. The current oil production of GCC countries is going to rise to 1.6 million barrels per day by 2015, and the excess capacity of the region, estimated at 5 million barrels per day, is to remain at that level until then, he said. “But thereafter by 2030, it would decline to 2-2.5 million barrels per day,” he said. The six members of the GCC include Bahain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates Oil prices slipped Monday as a stronger dollar and the euro's weakness amid renewed euro zone debt concerns helped pull oil from a two-year peak above $87 a barrel. The euro fell as investors fretted anew about budget problems in Ireland and other euro zone weak links. Last week's better-than-expected US jobs data also prompted dollar purchases, strengthening the dollar index measuring the greenback against a basket of currencies. The dollar fell to a 9-1/2 month low against the euro after last week's Federal Reserve announcement that the central bank would buy $600 billion of Treasuries by mid-2011 to lower interest rates and reinvigorate a sluggish economy. US crude for December delivery fell 30 cents to $86.55 a barrel at 1654 GMT, off its earlier $87.49 intraday peak, the highest price since $89.82 was struck on Oct. 9, 2008. Monday's pull back by oil stalled at Friday's $85.96 low, a broker noted. US crude prices on Friday marked five straight higher settlements and posted a 6.6 percent gain for the week, the biggest percentage gain since the week to Feb. 19. ICE December Brent crude fell 11 cents to $88 a barrel. Separately, Yemeni Deputy Minister of Technical Education and Vocational Training Alawi Ba-Faqih met in Sana'a Monday with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD)'s delegation, led by Technical Department's officials. The two sides discussed the level of achievement in the vocational and technical institutes' projects.
