Future of oil price to remain uncertain - report

The outlook for oil prices looks highly uncertain, a report by the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said on Wednesday.

Despite a recent rise in oil prices it will take time for confidence to be fully restored as energy exports depend on the state of the global economy, the KUNA news agency reported.

The report forecast that GCC countries, except Qatar, will suffer substantial losses as the region’s exports are due to fall by 40 percent.

Data by the Central Bank of Kuwait showed that oil exports fell 56 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period the previous year.

This trend is set to continue, the news agency warned adding that governments needed to act quickly to avoid “any structural shift in economic plans based upon the new developments.”

But, the report pointed out that Gulf economies will be able to withstand fluctuating oil prices after seeing extraordinary growth in recent years and their accumulated foreign assets.

“We think that 2009 is going to be an actual test of Gulf governments' capacity in managing and alleviating the repercussions of an imported economic crisis in a highly uncertain environment,” the report concluded.

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