Energy

With the economy growing 17.3% in 2011, the numbers show a broad-based expansion, but ultimately the mining sector was and will continue to be Mongolia’s main GDP driver. The country is on the verge of breaking through as the next major resources economy, and is perfectly situated just to the north of perhaps the world’s most resource-hungry economy...

The ongoing search for fuel alternatives in Mongolia was stepped up after a shortage in the summer of 2011, and energy sector leaders are now exploring alternatives and supplements to buying from Russian state energy firm Rosneft. One possibility is coal-to-liquids (CTL) technology, a good fit given the country’s huge coal reserves. Several...

Looming on the long-term horizon is a major constraint for the mining sector: water. Though Mongolia’s mineral resources are scattered throughout the country, most of the ones now in development are in the Gobi Desert, the driest part of the country. That includes Oyu Tolgoi (OT) and Tavan Tolgoi (TT), the megaprojects that will in the near future...

Nuclear power has at times been considered a prominent part of Mongolia’s energy mix in the long term. The country has significant uranium reserves in multiple locations, according to data from the International Atomic Energy Agency, with the vast majority of it in the Dornod field in the north-east. Mongolia has in recent years been reforming its...

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...