Portfolio Management & Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9000 words

Portfolio Management & Construction - Essay Example Qatar produces nearly 776 thousand barrels of oil each day and this current level of production is estimated to last for 54 years. When it comes to natural gas, the country is richest if all in the GCC countries. At the end of 2008, its natural gas reserves stood at 25.56 trillion cubic meters, representing nearly 61% of the entire GCC natural gas reserves and nearly 14% of the world’s natural gas reserves. In the GCC region, the country can be called as one of the most stable countries, given its prudent macroeconomic management and combination of natural resources. Due to higher global demand of energy, the economic boom continued till the end of 2008. In the past six years, the economy of Qatar grew as much as five times in size from 2002 to 2008, with an annual rate of 31.6% on average that makes nearly $19.6 billion (2002) to $100.4 billion (2008). The reason of such massive growth is steady increase in energy prices as well as surging gas and oil production. The country has allowed significant foreign investment in the production of its gas field in the past decade and is predicted to become world’s largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exporter in the future period of time. The country is also pursuing to attract foreign investment in the production of its other sectors such as non-energy projects by liberalize the economy even more. However, the global economy experienced drop in oil prices in late 2008 as well as economic and global financial crises that ultimately reduced the budget surplus of the economy and resulted in sluggish pace of development projects and investments in 2009. It is expected that economic growth will rebound and the economic policy emphasizes on developing the non-associated natural gas reserves of Qatar and improving foreign and private investment in non-energy sectors but gas and oil sector is still central in the