Qatar could live with oil at $60 per barrel, and even lower, according to a senior government official in the gulf state.
Speaking during the Doha Energy Forum this week, HE Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, ex-energy and industry minister and the president of the Qatar Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, said; “In my opinion we can live with oil at $60 per barrel, even below it and we can live good, but the condition is that we cut cost and reform the budget.
“We lived it (low oil price) back in the 90s with oil at nine dollars (per barrel).”
Al Attiyah said lower oil prices mean lower inflation which will benefit construction, oil drilling and other sectors.
“There are some positives of low oil price. Drilling cost and construction cost will come down,” he commented
Al Attiyah said Qatar’s developmental projects will not be affected by a decrease in oil prices, adding that China and India have changed the demand dynamics and have emerged as major consumers of oil and gas.
Despite this, he emphasised that Qatar has diversified its product portfolio. “Now we have different products, different varieties unlike in 90s when it was only oil. Today we have oil GTL (gas to liquids), LNG (liquefied natural gas), chemicals, steel, aluminium, helium and fertilisers,” he added.
While Brent crude prices slumped below $50 a barrel in January this year from highs of above $110 in June last year, prices have recovered slightly, hovering around $60 a barrel in February.
Crude prices have declined on the back of new supplies hitting markets, in particular from shale oil production in the United States, and slower global economic growth, including in Asia.
He said oil is unlikely to breach the $60 per barrel mark in 2015.
“In the end of this year we will see oil at $60 but it will take a few years to go above $70 level. We should forget the era of crude oil going above $100,” he said.
