30
39
th
Annual Report
slowdown was not limited to industrialized economies. Yet, it also swept the
major emerging economies, especially China and India, who experienced
declining growth rates, compared to the previous year, although those rates
remained relatively high.
The 39
th
Secretary General Annual Report is released amidst such
unstable global circumstances. The Report addresses the developments and
transformations witnessed by the oil and gas industry and all other sources of
energy in 2012 at all national, regional and global levels, with a special focus
on Arab countries. It should be noted that during 2012 global oil markets saw
relative stability in the areas of supply/demand and prices, and appeared as if
they were cured from the implications of the global financial crisis that took
place in 2008/2009.
The relative stability in the market has positively affected the revenues
gained by the petroleum exporting countries in general, including OAPEC
member countries. They were able to enhance the investment momentum
that began to return to the various circles of Arab petroleum industry. More
investments were injected into the projects concerned with upgrading oil and
natural gas production capacity in many of our countries. Furthermore, major
national Arab companies continued their cross-border expansionary strategy
by fostering cooperation with the consuming countries, especially in East Asia
and Europe. They kicked off joint oil and gas projects, including refineries and
petrochemical complexes, planned to construct offshore pipelines for natural
gas transport, and contributed to establishing liquefied gas receiving stations
and farms, as well as regasification processing facilities in certain Asian and
European countries.
From this perspective, petroleum will remain one of the most important
natural resources in the Arab region, and will continue to constitute an
economic base for several countries of the region, forming a major part of
their foreign trade. OAPEC member countries’ revenues from exporting
their oils amounted to about $702 billion, up by $77 billion, compared to the
revenues realized in 2011 of nearly $624 billion. It is worth mentioning that
