Capital insulated from oil price

Abu Dhabi is well insulated from swings in the price of oil despite its heavy reliance on the commodity, according to new rankings from Standard & Poor’s, the ratings firm.

The rankings, published for the first time yesterday and covering 19 oil-producing countries, singled out Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan as the most economically vulnerable to fluctuations in the price of oil. Mexico, Cameroon and Norway were ranked the least vulnerable.

Abu Dhabi ranked 13th on S&P’s “Oil Price Vulnerability Index”, making it the least susceptible in the Gulf to falling oil prices, despite the big slice of government revenues and GDP that have historically come from petroleum. After Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Oman ranked fifth, followed by Kuwait in sixth spot and Qatar eighth.