The unprecedented 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world economy in a myriad of ways. Not since the Great Depression of the 1930s has the world experienced a “Global Reset” on such a widespread and synchronized scale. Costing the world economy a staggering USD 1 trillion, the repercussions of the crisis are being felt disproportionately and differently in various sectors, including the power sector.
APICORP’s latest report, MENA Power Investment Outlook 2020-2024, highlights the impact that these economic forces had on the power sector investment landscape in the MENA region, including investments in planned and committed investments, shifts in demand and consumption, increased reliance on renewables for power generation, regional electrical connectivity, and other key areas.
Beyond Energy: How MENA Economies Emerge Post-2021
The 2020 triple crisis – health, economic, financial – stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound and multifaceted impact on the various economic sectors, including the energy sector.
APICORP’s latest white paper, Beyond Energy: How MENA Economies Emerge Post-2021, presents an in-depth analysis of the key economic opportunities and challenges stemming from the crisis, and how the sizeable stimulus packages rolled out by MENA countries can be best utilized to bring about a sustainable economic recovery.
MENA Gas & Petrochemicals Investment Outlook 2020-2024
2020 is witnessing one of the largest gas demand shocks on record, with a year-on-year (y-o-y) reduction of 4%. This stands in stark contrast to 2019 which was a record year for LNG Final Investment Decisions (FIDs). The 2020 global crisis is expected to reduce the annual growth rate for global gas demand for the period 2020-25 to 1.5% compared to the pre-COVID-19 estimate of 1.8%.
The triple crisis—health, economic and potentially financial currently affecting the world, led to sharp cuts in capital expenditures, practical restrictions to projects and supply chains—Asian shipyards or specialized engineering from the Lombardy region in Italy—and a wider restructuring of the sector. Entering 2020, MENA countries had substantial financial reserves, almost USD1tn, and some countries were even underleveraged. Yet with governments mobilizing extensive stimulus packages to fight the direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the five-year energy investment plans, even if reduced by 20%, will still require substantial input from a bearish private sector. The current vicious circle of low revenue, low investment, low output needs to be broken, and a virtuous cycle of investments in lower cost, lower-carbon, sustainable assets needs to be induced