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Gulf States Lose Their Swagger Amid Regionwide Sell-Off
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Some producers within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are pushing the cartel to set and defend a minimum price of $80 a barrel.
For the Gulf, oil is "the main thing," said Carl Delfeld, head of the U.S.-based Chartwell Partners investment advisers.
"Foreign investors were banking on that oil revenue . . . to spur property markets and overall economies of these countries," Delfeld said. "And it's going in reverse now."
But Alami said that oil producers were not in any real danger. "The regional . . . economy will sustain itself as long as oil is above $80," he said.
In Dubai, some developers went ahead with announcements of new projects, including the prince who stood beside a three-story-high model to announce plans for a skyscraper two-thirds of a mile high. Other developers, more quietly, postponed projects, saying funding was now uncertain.
Even before this week's crash, investment firms were calling Dubai's high-end property market overbuilt and warning of a 10 percent to 20 percent drop in real estate prices over two years. "I wouldn't say it's the bottom yet," said Vyas Jayabhanu, a Dubai stockbroker.
Ambah reported from Jiddah, Saudi Arabia.
