[eXpat]

Another article Matt here,( I took the link from your website), to think that all that money could have been used to modify the area, to make it more fertile, to make irrigation works such as channels and the like, maybe genetically modify existent crops to make them stronger to stand in the desert, and so on; and it has been wasted instead building that! And that is from people that have joined recently the developed word, and that still have the saying "my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, ....".
We as species are really fu**k up.

[mekrob]

It's not all fucked up. On page two,
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')* The Dubai Metro system, once completed, will become the largest fully automated rail system in the world.

[Zardoz]

Leanan posted this on the front page:

Dubai Oil Output Two-Thirds Below Official Figure

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')roduction of Dubai's crude oil has fallen as much as a third in the past two years and is a fraction of that recorded in some government statements, company documents show, undermining the already fragile position of one of the world's top three oil price reference points.

Current output in the booming Persian Gulf sheikdom, one of seven semi-autonomous enclaves in the United Arab Emirates, is some two-thirds below the figure released by the national government, according to calculations by Dow Jones Newswires using data from the previous operators of the fields. It has fallen as much as a third in the past two years.

The Dubai government took over operating the oil fields in April from a joint-venture led by ConocoPhillips Corp. (COP), which has since complained of poor financial returns due to the structure of the previous operating agreement.

Daily output in the first three months of this year fell to between 65,000 barrels and 80,000 barrels against the 240,000 barrels stated on the U.A.E. government's Web site.

[PeakingAroundtheCorner]

That explains all that fancy new developement including artificial islands shaped like palm trees. They've been ramping up thier tourism economy for several years now.

And, we might want to look out for Dubai, in light of these new numbers, reducing exports for more domestic use.

[Twilight]

If true, wow.

Not that they are an important producer, but it would add extra weight to the theory that it's looking like the UKCS without data transparency out there.

[MacG]

I wish Halliburton all luck with their recent relocalization to Dubai.

[DantesPeak]

The EIA and IEA sometime rely on official statistics when it is difficult or impossible to independently verify actual production figures. It appears to be that in the case of the UAE, the official statistics are being used.

It makes you wonder just how far off they (the EIA and IEA) are from actual production; although I don’t think they are off significantly (less than 0.5% - or 400,000 bpd) for the entire world, as errors tend to balance each other out. The only real check on these figures is measured inventories, which are mostly only available on OECD countries on a monthly basis.

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Gideon', 'I') just read an article that there is a massive pilot shortage all around the world because China and places like Dubai have burgeoning airline industries.

One of the EU socialist countries wants the Govt to pass a law to prevent "poaching" of pilots.

We take their labor, it's "capitalism".

They take ours, it's "poaching."

Gotta love it!

Capitalism - Great on the way up, shitty on the way down.

[shortonoil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')nother example with multi billion-dollar technology of gas injection to boost old fields is Oman’s Yibal oil field. The new technology was introduced in 1990 - after 30 years of water injection and pressure maintenance. In 1997 Yibal reached the peak. In 2001 production declined by 65%. The collapse was a total surprise for many experts.

[TonyPrep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PeakingAroundtheCorner', 'T')hey've been ramping up thier tourism economy for several years now.

[Cobra_Strike]

The lack of transparency in the Arab state is going to result in death on a near unprecedented level.

Though, its looking like the fast production crashers are right.

Its falling like a rock.

[TheDude]

Leanan also posted these back to back:

Japan's nuclear plans in disarray

Russia plans big nuclear expansion



Didn't anybody put two and two together last year?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he oil sector accounted for 5.1% of Dubai's gross domestic product last year, down from 5.6% in 2005 and 24% in 1994.

[Etika]

One shouldn't take Dubai as any kind of a representative country in Middle East in pretty much anything even though it might be tempting.

Dubai's oil reserves and production are pitfully small when compared to other Mid-East countries and it has been long apparent that they will run out a lot sooner than in other countries in the area. That fact has also been recogniced by the leadership of the country and as a result a lot of the income from oil has been used to diversify the economy with good success (less than 10% of Dubai's GDP came from oil last year). Thus Dubai is not anyway representative example of Mid-East countries in the rate of production change or the survivability of goverments and countries in the area.

[seahorse]

Dubai's reserves may be small, but it is representative of the ME in other ways, they've been overstating their reserves for a long time and they are in decline, just like SA.

[evilgenius]

Yes, it is scarey that these kinds of declines could be in the works at Ghawar. One of the reasons why I believe that the peak took place in '06 was how the Saudis were acting in the time leading up to then and through the year (too much to go into here). Let's just say that the horizontal drilling and the water injection, and tales of higher water content than had been in the crude, warned of a coming time of not just drop off, but significant drop off.

In another post somebody accused the Saudis of siphoning Iraqi oil to cover up the fact they were going off the cliff. I don't really go for that, then again they could hide what would stay silent because it is in the best interest of smugglers to keep quiet. They could cover up a shortfall temporarily, except the shortfall, given the size of Ghawar and the techniques used on it, should overcome any coverup in a short time. The next best way to cover up after that would be to take the line the Saudis are now, that it is in their best economic interest to stick to a lower output. If they are falling then the cover will come off in the next few-eighteen months when the so called economic reasons are discredited. If by then the Masters of this world haven't tanked the global economy then times will be very, very bad.

[Zardoz]

Let's hope they have the financing completely secured for this sucker:

Dubai skyscraper world's tallest

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')t is thought Burj Dubai will eventually be 693m (2,275ft) tall...

...There is speculation that, spire included, the final height could be more than 800m, but Emaar is keeping structural details secret.

[Ayame]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', ' ')Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

[Twilight]

And increasing monument construction brought collapse forward.

[Ferretlover]

Makes me think of the tower with the Eye in the Lord of the Rings...

What a target!

[mekrob]

So it appears that Dubai is going from investing in short-term, illogical buildings and systems in the middle of a desert to investing in short-term, illogical buildings and systems in the middle of another desert.

Bloomberg

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')ubai agreed to pay as much as $5.1 billion for a 9.5 percent stake in MGM Mirage and half of the Las Vegas casino owner's biggest development, giving controlling shareholder Kirk Kerkorian a partner as MGM expands into real estate.