Saturday, Oct 11, 2008

Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: The Arabian Gulf makes a huge contribution to the world's energy, providing roughly 33 per cent of total world oil production in 2006 and 18 per cent of total world LNG shipments, said Ambassador Hamad Al Kaabi, the UAE's permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday.

"The nations of the region also possess virtually all of the world's excess oil production capacity of 2.4 to 2.9 billion barrels, as well as some of the world's lowest production costs.

"The region's roughly 728 billion barrels of oil reserves (roughly 55 per cent of total proven world reserves) and 2,509 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves (roughly 40 per cent of total proven world reserves) point to the Arabian Gulf's continued prominence as a major source of energy," he told a Nato seminar on the subject of the Middle East and Global Challenges held in Abu Dhabi.

Outlining the importance of the Arabian Gulf to transatlantic energy security, Al Kaabi said in his joint presentation with David V. Scott, director of economic affairs for the Executive Affairs Authority of Abu Dhabi, that in 2007 OECD Europe imported 2.6 million barrels per day of crude oil from the Arabian Gulf, or roughly 26 per cent of net imports.

During the same year, the United States imported 2.2 million barrels per day of crude, or roughly 18 per cent of net imports.

He said with its massive resource base and low production costs, neither geologic uncertainty nor investment attraction pose serious challenges to the ability of nations within the Arabian Gulf to supply energy to importing nations.

However, he noted, other challenges include regional instability and threats to production infrastructure, maritime security and reliance upon so-called transit chokepoints and rapidly growing domestic consumption.

Cooperation

Al Kaabi also spoke of prospective areas for cooperation between Nato and GCC countries.

"Ensuring transatlantic energy security boils down to a simple mantra: keep the oil and gas flowing," said Al Kaabi. "This has long been the objective of the nations of the Arabian Gulf, particularly those in the GCC, and the latter have sought to do their part in achieving this goal.

"Nevertheless, as challenges mount and as global hydrocarbon markets tighten, there will exist increased scope for cooperation between both suppliers and consumers of Arabian Gulf energy resources," he said.

Al Kaabi added some potential opportunities that merit further consideration include training and technology offerings to increase the security of Gulf production facilities and appropriate intelligence sharing to ensure that producing states are forewarned of potential threats.

He also suggested joint military exercises and/or other training activities aimed at maintaining and/or preserving the flow of hydrocarbons through key transit chokepoints en route to Europe and North America.

© Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.

 

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