Gulf economies are strong despite anxieties over financial strains in the regions, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said on Wednesday.

"I want to emphasise that the overall economy of the region as a whole remains strong," he told a petrochemicals conference in Dubai, which alarmed markets last month by asking for a standstill on billions of dollars in debt owed to a state-owned congolerate.

"The soundness and growing diversification of our regional economy will help restore calm following the turbulence of the moment," he said.

The kingdom's petrochemicals output is expected to rise to 80 million tonnes per year in 2015 from 60 million tonnes at the moment, Naimi told the conference.

Saudi Aramco will seek to discover at least 5 trillion cubic feet of non-associated gas reserves annually. - Reuters