Energy Consumption, CO2 Emissions and Economic Growth Nexus in Oman : Evidence from ARDL Approach to Cointegration and Causality Analysis

The paper examines the nexus between economic growth, energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emission (CO2) in Oman from 1980 to 2018. The study uses ARDL bounds, Johansen Cointegration and the Granger-causality tests. The bound test as well as the Johansen Cointegration test both reveals the existence of a long-run relationship between CO2 emissions and its determinants. This long relationship indicates that CO2 in Oman is positively influenced by economic growth and energy consumption.The analysis also suggested that in the short run; approximately 15.1 percent of total disequilibrium in CO2 emissions has being corrected each year. Moreover, Granger causality analysis indicated that there is a unidirectional causality running from each of the energy consumption (EC) and GDP per capita (economic growth) CO2 emissions. Based on the results obtained, the policymakers can formulate strict environmental and energy policies for the sake of reducing CO2 emissions