Abu Dhabi: The chief executive and managing director of Abu Dhabi investment vehicle Mubadala Development Company cautioned on Monday against thinking low oil price is “the new norm”.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, in his opening address at the Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi, told the audience “low oil prices are not something new”. “It has happened before and I assure you it will happen again,” he said.
Oil prices have fallen more than 65 per cent from a high of $115 a barrel in June 2014 to below $40 a barrel today. A significant amount of Abu Dhabi’s revenues comes from oil sales, raising concerns over the immediate future of the emirates investments.
Al Mubarak said industry should not “fall into the trap” of believing these prices are here to stay. He also said low oil prices would have no long-term effect on UAE investments.
“The UAE will continue to think in decades, not months and years … our strategic direction remains clear and our long term remains intact.”
Al Mubarak also weighed into the race for the United States Democrat and Republican Party nominations for president. In past nominations the parties “usually stayed within a band,” he said pointing to Bernie Sanders, a socialist seeking the Democratic nomination.
“The Republican side … the leading candidate … I cannot describe him,” Al Mubarak said of Donald Trump. The rise of Donald Trump among Republican voters has raised concerns within the US and overseas because of his controversial views on trade and immigration, including stopping all Muslims from entering the US.
UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Energy Suhail Mohammad Faraj Al Mazrouei, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority managing director Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Etihad Airways president and chief executive James Hogan were in the audience.
