The Curious Case of Global Fuel Demand
The UAE is looking forward to diversifying its oil-based economy into everything from technology to sports, and tourism is a deliberate attempt toward realizing a new vision and setting a new image. Advancement in the technology business is a big part of this vision. The UAE Energy Minister Souhail al-Mazrouei recently announced that the country won't seek a further increase in its Opec-plus production baseline before 2025 despite increasing its production capacity. However, the worldwide demand for Oil and Gas is still at large.
Perhaps fossil fuel doesn’t have a bright future in the world, but its present is rather healthy. Despite the Russia-Ukraine conflict and subsequent crunch of the fuel supply, the gasoline demand in Europe recorded the strongest this year since 2015 (January-to-June period), according to Bloomberg calculations based on government data. The third-largest consumer of oil in the world as of 2022, India’s economic growth is highly influenced by its energy demand. Therefore, the demand for oil and gas is ever-increasing.
The ‘India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor’ announced at the 2023 G20 New Delhi summit is set to be a game changer in meeting this demand in the future. The trade route between the Gulf, Europe, and India is set to be transformed by a new plan that connects them by rail and sea. It is a bold project that India, the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the European Union (EU) agreed to work on together. While this makes the sector quite conducive for investment, it also points fingers at the dire need and scale of responsibilities toward climate. It’s the right time to present our yearly special issue featuring some exciting stories from the UAE’s Oil and gas industry.