This is a good time to invest for Gulf national oil companies

London

AS the oil industry tightens its belt after the worst price slump in a generation, the state-owned giants of the Middle East are taking the opposite tack.

Saudi Arabian Oil Co, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and Kuwait Petroleum Corp are using a record number of drilling rigs and boosting production, a contrast to international companies from Exxon Mobil Corp to Royal Dutch Shell, which are shelving projects and slashing costs.

"While oil companies around the world are cutting capital and downsizing their investment programmes, Saudi Aramco continues to take a long-term view," chairman Khalid Al-Falih said in March.

It's a strategy that may allow the three state-owned companies to boost their 20 per cent market share before prices rebound. Aramco's board, after meeting for an annual review of its long-term plans last week, decided the best response to the slump was "to stay the course". A few days earlier, its Abu Dhabi counterpart, known as Adnoc, said it would invest…