*** ----> ‘GCC now, EU can wait’ | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

‘GCC now, EU can wait’

Trading in energy between the GCC countries using the power grid would be enhanced in the immediate future and European consumers might be served later, taking advantage of the difference in seasons, according to Minister of Energy Dr Abdulhussain Mirza. He was speaking at the APICORP Energy Forum yesterday.

“Only during urgency, can change happen and hence the current oil price decline is the right time to initiate more reforms and the government is forced to do so. The subsidy is enjoyed by everyone, including the rich, but with reforms and tariff change a more careful approach to consumption will be triggered,” he said.

All Bahrain oil and gas projects are still on track, despite the price decline and Bahrain has enough experience in handling the oil-price swings, he added.

Continuous investment in production is required, otherwise it would be difficult in the years to come. Hence, the chance of OPEC strategy paying off is high. Mirza opined that the demand of oil might rise and some of the non-traditional players might be pushed out, in a possible reference to the US.