The Middle East Energy

The global insolation map has three notable patches of dark red: one in western Australia; another in southwest US; and perhaps the largest stretching from Algeria across North Africa all the way to the Arabian Gulf. It is in these regions where the most sun hits the ground, creating the greatest potential for solar energy. The large swathe in...

Unlike many of its neighbouring countries and emirates, Ras Al Khaimah is not a large oil-and-gas producer. It has, however, established its own growing energy economy, ramping up capacity for electricity generation and water desalination, studying the potential of renewable energies – in particular solar power – and developing energy efficiency...

Hydrocarbons are not the only underground resource to yield billions of dollars of profit in Saudi Arabia. The mining of metallic ores, phosphates, bauxite and construction materials is an area of growth which the government hopes will become the third pillar of the economy, after oil and petrochemicals.

The emergence of two mining cities in Saudi Arabia could galvanise further private sector investment both upstream and downstream, with a host of new rail linkages set to sweeten the deal.

Increasing both oil and gas production are central elements of Kuwait’s national development strategy. The former provides the bulk of the revenue on which the nation’s economic expansion has been based while the latter provides much of the nation’s electricity. Both represent potential feedstocks for the downstream industrial processes by which...

The climatological argument for the introduction of solar technology to Kuwait has long been established: the Middle East enjoys some of the most favourable solar radiation rates in the world, particularly between March and October, and within the region Kuwait’s solar radiation peak of 8000 Wh per sq metre (Wh/m2) places it at the top of the list...