Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APICORP) have estimated $792 billion for planned energy investments for the time period 2020-2024, according to a press release.

This new figure represents a $173 billion decrease from the initial planned investment for 2019-2023. This revision of investment is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the oil crisis, and a looming financial crisis.

Ahmed Ali Attiga, CEO of APICORP, said, “The impact of COVID-19 is already deeper and longer lasting than past downturns. Indeed, the nature of this triple crisis and the profound restructuring in oil and gas will hit energy investments for a potentially long period of time, sowing the seeds of supply crunches and price volatility. Therefore, we expect a W-shaped recovery for the MENA region.”

MENA Energy Investments Outlook 2020 finds that energy  investments are primarily driven by several countries: investments by Saudi Arabia in the gas and power sectors ($39 billion and $41 billion, respectively); Iraq’s reconstruction efforts and gas-to-power ($33 billion); the UAE’s oil capacity maximization ($45 billion); and Egypt’s new petrochemicals drive ($38 billion). APICORP now estimates the private sector’s share in energy project investments at 19% compared to 2019’s outlook of 22%.

Furthermore, the energy sector’s capital costs were cut by at least 20%, particularly in oil and gas, which APICORP predicts may lead to a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A).