Oil, gas constitute largest Arab economic sector — study

KUWAIT, Aug 17 (KUNA) — Oil, gas and electric power generation make up one of the largest economic sectors, if not the largest, in the Arab Gulf area, a recent study showed.

The study, entitled “Main characteristics of the Arab energy sector,” appeared in the latest issue of the “Kuwaiti” magazine, which is published by Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).

“A large number of jobs are generated by these vital sectors in prospecting, digging oil wells, production, transport, refineries and distributing outlets,” the magazine article said.

“Every job in the oil producing or refining side indirectly generates one to four other jobs,” the International Labor Organization (ILO) was quoted by the study as saying.

The Arab world is also an important source of natural gas at regional and global levels, the study said and cited Algeria, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Egypt and Libya as producing significant quantities of natural gas and transporting it either by pipes or by large tanker ships to international markets.
This commodity, natural gas, is also growing in such countries as Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other Arab states.
In view of such huge reserves, the sector provides a huge number of jobs, not only in the export side, but also in the oil fields, where several national and foreign companies are active.

Kuwait News Agency