Depleted oil and gas reservoirs in Dubai could become the basis for a new source of income for the emirate. The Supreme Council of Energy is considering a plan to build a trading hub around these geological structures, which are currently used to store gas for domestic consumption.
Since Dubai's oil and gas deposits are nearly exhausted, the emirate has begun importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) in tankers supplied by Shell to fuel its power stations. Dubai also imports gas through pipelines from Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
"Dubai has pipelines, has LNG, and has storage capacity. So if you put all those together you might be in a position to create that gas hub," said Nejib Zaafrani, the chief executive of the council, adding that he expected a decision by the middle of the year.
To convert the old oil and gasfields into trading instruments, the authorities would have to build a gas-export terminal as well as a trading system on one of the Dubai exchanges to establish a benchmark price for gas in the region.
The idea is part of developing the Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, a policy roadmap designed to secure Dubai's energy needs.
There is no global price benchmark for gas because it has until recently proved impossible to trade freely. But with the emergence of LNG as a globally traded commodity over the past two decades, new pricing benchmarks are emerging. Dubai started importing LNG three years ago when a converted tanker that regasifies the product was moored off the coast and connected to Dubai's pipeline network.
Imported gas is stored underground in the Margham field and the Jebel Ali salt dome.
The idea of turning Dubai into a centre for gas trading has been under consideration since last year.
If the emirate were to go ahead with the plan, it could face strong competition from Qatar.
"Qatar is the obvious choice to create such a hub … But future natural gas demand in the Gulf is perhaps sufficient to have two hubs," saidDr Axel Wietfeld, a board member at E.ON Foldgáz Storage.
fneuhof@thenational.ae
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.