The Middle East Energy

In 1937, decades before the UAE had been established, Dubai concluded its first oil concession deal with Petroleum Development Trucial Coast (PDTC), a British oil company. It was not until 1952 that the first drilling began, and not until 1966 that a commercially viable oil field was found.

Developed in 2010 and initiated in 2011, the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 (DIES) aims to guide the emirate’s energy sector toward sustainability and enhanced efficiency. Responsible for executing the plan is the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE), a governing body made up of key stakeholders.

Although the UAE population’s stood at 8.2m in 2010, according to the latest information from the UAE’s National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s per capita energy consumption is one of the highest in the world. A combination of factors like high per capita income and a warm climate contribute to the rate of energy usage. Dubai has one of the...

As economic activity continues to expand outside of the capital, steps are being taken to meet a growing demand for increased infrastructure. One notable example is the effort to expand power generation capacity in Salalah, the capital of the Dhofar region.

Some of the most dramatic economic growth outside of Oman’s capital can be found in the port town of Duqm. Located approximately 550 km to the south of Muscat in the Al Wusta region, Duqm was a small fishing community in the 1950s when a team arrived to begin oil exploration in the area. Today economic activity in the town focuses on the...

Three major marketing companies take lubricant and fuel products from the Oman Refineries and Petrochemicals Company and distribute them to retail, commercial and aviation customers across the sultanate. The market they share is a fiercely competitive one, but the most recent figures reveal a healthy sector with capacity for growth.