(Ame Info) -- According to a recent report by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), the annual petrochemicals production of the six Gulf states is expected to soar around 46% to 155 million tonnes per annum by 2015, up from 105 million now. Today the GCC nations produce around 16% of the world's petrochemicals output; that figure will rise to 20% by 2015, the GPCA said.
Saudi Arabia is the region's largest producer of petrochemicals, with a 50% share of the total output, while Kuwait produces around 9% and Oman and Qatar 5% each. The UAE and Bahrain export 3% and 1% respectively, of the region's total petrochemicals output. Nor are the major Gulf players resting on their laurels. Mindful of the need to preserve their long-term income streams, Gulf governments have pledged to invest record sums in maintaining and improving the region's petrochemicals capacity.
By spending big on facilities including those at Jubail Industrial City and Ruwais, Saudi plans to raise its total petrochemicals output to 70 million tonnes by 2015, from the current production level of 53.2 million. Meanwhile state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has said it will invest approximately USD 90bn over the next five years in its oil and gas businesses and growth strategy. "On the oil sector capital programme, we are well on track and poised to spend around USD 90bn in the coming five years," says Hashin Al-Rifai, a planning manager at KPC. "That is going to mushroom to USD 340bn over the 2030 [strategic] plan period."