The vast deserts of the GCC were often seen as obstacles to development in the past, preventing widespread cultivation, holding down population growth and hindering overland travel. The oil sitting beneath those deserts changed that view. Like its GCC neighbours, Kuwait relied on oil resources to fuel its rapid economic development in the 20th...
The construction industry in Kuwait is among the strongest in the region and a rising star in the country’s non-oil economy, with its steadily growing population, tightly regulated land market and relatively wealthy populous all combining to fuel demand for new building. Between 1995 and 2013, Kuwait’s population doubled from 1.8m to 3.6m,...
Prior to the 20th century, Kuwait’s merchants and pearl divers leveraged the country’s location to offer their wares on trade flows connecting British India with the Ottoman Empire’s Arabic-speaking realms. The 1938 discovery of oil in the Burgan field did not disrupt those trade flows but replaced their cargoes with oil, which became the...
While generally well-endowed with oil of a variety of grades, Kuwait’s Greater Burgan field in the southeast is the world’s second-largest after Ghawar in Saudi Arabia. Consisting of the Burgan, Magwa and Ahmadi reservoirs, Greater Burgan makes up the lion’s share of Kuwait’s production, with average output of 1.1m-1.3m barrels per day (bpd),...
In recent years, airlines based in the GCC have raised a formidable challenge to the former domination of legacy carriers based in North America and Europe. In 2015 carriers in the Middle East saw the strongest traffic growth in the world, according to the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA), raising their share of...
Across the GCC, spending cuts have come to the forefront of fiscal discussions as hydrocarbons exports continue to fetch lower prices on global markets, resulting in decreased revenues. Subsidies, in particular, have been on the chopping block. In January 2016, Qatar announced plans to raise petrol prices by 30% to help address its expected...
Stay updated on how some of the world’s most promising markets are being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and what actions governments and private businesses are taking to mitigate challenges and ensure their long-term growth story continues.
Register now and also receive a complimentary 2-month licence to the OBG Research Terminal.
Register Here×