Gulf Arab energy companies issued record debt this year as producers opted to exploit lower borrowing costs to fund expansion plans.

Even after record borrowing, the debt levels of Gulf energy producers lag behind that of publicly traded companies, he said.

Oil and gas producers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE plan to spend more than $600 billion on energy projects over the next five to 10 years, officials from the countries have announced.

Saudi Aramco, as the state energy producer is known, has a $2 billion loan guarantee from the U.K. government in the run-up to its proposed IPO next year, likely to be the largest in history.

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