Middle East: UAE - Dubai
Aug. 2001 Vol. 222 No. 8 International Outlook MIDDLE EAST Dr. A. F. Alhajji, Contributing Editor, Boulder, Colorado UAE – Dubai Government of
MIDDLE EASTDr. A. F. Alhajji, Contributing Editor, Boulder, Colorado UAE – DubaiGovernment officials are convinced that the oil days in this small emirate are almost over. The government embraced diversification to boost the economy and emphasized tourism, services, industry, technology and e-commerce. Government efforts proved to be successful in reducing reliance on oil, which represented only 10% of Dubai’s GDP.
Drilling / development. Given the declining importance of oil, drilling activity has been virtually unchanged for the last few years, hovering around eight wells per year, of which several are offshore. Future development will focus mainly on end-user facilities for gas, as the demand for gas increases. Gas will be imported from neighboring emirates and Qatar. BP’s Arco Dubai subsidiary relinquished the concession controlling Margham onshore field that it had held since 1980. The Dubai government created a new entity named Dubai Margham Establishment, to oversee takeover of the field and operate further development and production at the site. Margham produces about 20,000 bcpd and 320 MM to 350 MMcfgd. Production. Dubai’s oil output has dropped
constantly since 1991. Production fell to 250,000 bpd in 1998 and 225,000 in 1999. It increased slightly in
2000, but last March, Dubai announced that its crude production had dropped to 170,000 bpd.
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