Although several key projects have reached the final stages of award, at an overall level, Q3 2018 was another quarter of low spends as many projects are still awaiting final negotiations or official announcements. Given the expectation of continued stability in the energy market, next quarter is anticipated to witness healthier project spends in the GCC as many of the delayed projects of Q3 are expected to get awarded by year end
Improvement in crude oil prices have led to decent Q2 2018 project awards and multiple key announcements across a majority of the GCC countries in both the upstream and downstream sectors
A positive trajectory in oil prices has had a somewhat-strong correlation with project spends. With growing optimism in the market, many long-delayed projects have successfully secured FID. With Saudi Arabia and UAE continuing to lead the way in project spends, 2018 will see continued focus on the power and downstream sectors with greater activity also being seen in the alternatives space.