A recently published specialised economic study says international banks will continue to finance oil, gas and petrochemical projects in Arab states, due to the limited financial capabilities of Arab banks.
The study prepared by the director of the projects management department in the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), Abdullah Ibrahim, indicates that this reliance on the international banks generates several risks resulting from the banks’ evaluation of the situation in the region.
The study estimates the expected investments in the gas, refining and the petrochemical projects in the Arab states during 2002-06 at US$63.5bn, with US$36.5bn for natural gas projects, about US$20bn for the petrochemical projects and the rest for refining projects. The biggest rate of these investments is distributed on Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Kuwait, the UAE and Oman, adds the study.
On the other hand, the study explains that the expected capital needed to maintain and increase the capacity of oil production in the Arab states during the period 2002-06 is about US$49bn, as US$27.8bn are the  cost of maintaining the present energy, while the rest is the cost of increasing the production capacity.
About US$5.5bn will be used to rehabilitate and elevate the capacity of production in Iraq during the stage of reconstruction.
Apicorp was established in 1975, with its headquarters in Khubar and aims to finance the oil industries in its various forms. The company was established with the participation of 10 Arab governments.