#Qatar lowers oil price assumption for 2024 budget to $60/bbl -QNA | Reuters

Qatar lowers oil price assumption for 2024 budget to $60/bbl -QNA | Reuters

Qatar approved its 2024 fiscal year budget on Wednesday with revenue estimated to decrease 11.4% next year on lower oil prices, state news agency QNA reported.

Total annual revenue is estimated at 202 billion riyals ($55.49 billion) and spending at 200.9 billion riyals, with a deficit of 6.2 billion riyals, which will be covered from the surpluses made in 2023, QNA quoted finance minister Ali bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari as saying.

Qatar is taking a more conservative approach, with an oil price assumption of $60 per barrel in 2024, instead of $65 per barrel in 2023, "by taking into account the estimates of international institutions", the minister said.

Qatar's revenue from oil and gas is estimated to decrease 14.5% in 2024 to 159 billion riyals, while non-oil revenue is expected to increase about 2.4% to 43 billion riyals, the statement said.

The Gulf Arab state, which hosted the soccer World Cup in 2022, is one of the world's largest exporters of natural gas and last year benefited from huge windfalls from soaring global oil and gas prices.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) earlier this month lowered its 2024 price forecast for Brent crude by $10 a barrel. Brent would average $83 per barrel, the EIA forecast in a monthly report, versus an estimate published last month of $93 per barrel.

Goldman Sachs earlier this week trimmed its price expectation for Brent crude in 2024 by $10 per barrel to between $70 and $90, saying strong production from the United States would moderate any upside in oil prices.

($1 = 3.7517 riyals)