Mubasher: Total planned and committed investments in MENA’s energy sector are expected to exceed $805 billion over the coming five years, the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) said.

This will mark an increase of $13 billion from the $792-billion estimate in last year’s five-year outlook.

Meanwhile, committed natural gas investments will likely plunge by $9.5 billion to $75 billion after the completion of several megaprojects in 2020. A report indicated that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iraq are topping the region in terms of committed gas investments.

As for planned gas investments, they held relatively steady at $133 billion for the 2021-2025 period.

Estimates for committed and planned power investments stand at $93 billion and $157 billion, respectively, until 2025.

Renewables account for 40% of the estimated $250 billion in the power-generation sector investments.

Planned investments in the petrochemicals sector are forecast to increase by $14.2 billion to $109 billion compared to last year’s outlook, while committed investments fell by $7.7 billion to around $12.5 billion.

The MENA region’s economic forecasts show that commodity prices and exports will drive the rebound expected for most regional countries this year. “However, economies remain under fiscal strains due to unprecedented high debt levels and decline in oil prices, tourism/Hajj revenues, and personal remittances.” 

Current estimates indicate that the region will add 3 GW of installed solar power capacity in 2021 alone, double that of 2020, and 20 GW over the next five years. 

CEO of APICORP, Ahmed Ali Attiga, said: “We anticipate a slow but steady recovery of the energy sector from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, supported by continued investment from the public sector and an upswing in demand.”

A recent report indicated that the MENA region would see 83 GW of renewable and clean energy capacity, mainly from solar and wind power, by 2035.