The turmoil in global financial markets may hit the region's energy investment programmes, says a report.

The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) says in its latest economic commentary that despite signs of the US economy slipping towards recession and global growth slowing further, the Arab region is set to continue to benefit from sustained high oil prices.

But if the outlook for global growth deteriorates beyond expectations, the resulting reduced demand for Arab petroleum products may well compromise the region’s energy investment programmes, the report was quoted as saying by Emirates Business.

The expansion in the emerging markets and the growth momentum in China and India would not be sufficient to offset slower growth in the US and other key OECD countries, it said. “As a result growth is expected to decelerate from 4.9 per cent in 2007 to 4.1 per cent in 2008,” the report said.

The extent to which the Arab region would continue to be sheltered against the deteriorating external environment remained uncertain, it said.