UAE’s oil and gas industry achieves great successes

The UAE oil and gas industry made significant strides during this year and is set to achieve even greater successes in the years to come. One of these notable successes is the fact that the oil sector continued its growth for the third year running to reach record levels in 2003 as a result of improvement in global oil prices.
But the most significant development this year, however, was the re-formation of the Supreme Petroleum Council -- a move widely seen as a major step towards evolving new strategies aimed at augmenting the pivotal role that the oil and gas sector has continued to play in the country's development. The re-formation of the Supreme Petroleum Council was decreed by HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

According to Article (1) of the decree No. 12 for 2004, issued on June 29th, the Supreme Petroleum Council will include in its membership Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mohammed bin ZayedAl Nahyan, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Mohammed Habroush Al Suweidi and Yousef Omeir bin Yousef as member and Secretary General.
Other members of the council include Joua'an Salem Al Dhaheri, Khalifa Mohammed Khalifa Al Kindi and Abdullah Nasser Al Suweidi. The decree came into effect from the date of its issue on June 29.

The re-formation of the council was in line with the vision of President HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who envisaged the UAE oil wealth as an endowment from God for present and future UAE generations, hence the need to exploit it in a judicious and scientific manner.
The UAE's proven oil reserve currently stands at 98 bn barrels. Proven recoverable reserves of natural gas are estimated at around 6 tcm. With this enormous oil wealth -- the third largest reserve in the world -- the UAE under the stewardship of Sheikh Zayed began to play a key in the global economy, becoming a member of OPEC in 1971. Through this forum, the UAE made significant contributions in stabilizing the global economy as evinced by the positions that it adopted during several economic and political turmoil that swept across the world in the past.

Given the role that the UAE had played in the recent global economic history and, considering its own successes at home which made the country an example worth emulating, it is safe to assume that the economic future is very rosy indeed and that the country will continue to be a major global player.
Recent successes are but indications that the UAE will move from one success story to the other. In this respect, it suffices to say that the oil sector continued its growth this year for the third year running to reach record levels in 2003 as a result of the improvement in global oil prices and increased production.