UAE: Dubai Energy

The GCC chemicals and petrochemicals industry demonstrated considerable resilience in the face of Covid-19 and oil price fluctuations.

Amid an increase in global demand and concerns over key supplies, global oil prices are approaching $100 per barrel for the first time since 2014. But, with prices rising, what does this mean for the renewable energy transition, especially in Gulf countries?

With hydrocarbons-rich countries in the Gulf increasingly looking to reduce their carbon emissions, some in the region are turning towards multi-coloured hydrogen as a more environmentally sustainable solution.

On August 1, an increase in petrol charges came into force in Dubai and the rest of the UAE, following the announcement on July 22 by the Ministry of Energy (MoE) that the government is reducing the fuel subsidy it has traditionally paid. 

In mid-January 2012, Dubai unveiled the details of a massive solar energy facility it plans to build in the desert, part of a larger scheme to meet the energy needs of the emirate and reduce its reliance on imported natural gas to fire its power stations.

Dubai is to change the way it powers itself, having announced a long-term plan to diversify the emirate’s energy sector away from dependence on imported gas and towards a broad-based mix of fuels for its power stations. However, that energy security could come at a cost.