Posts Tagged Persian Gulf
Can Arab Gulf Economies Survive a Shale Gas Revolution?
Posted by knowledgewhartonarabic in Finance and Investment, Strategic Management on February 9, 2012
Bala Balachandran, the J. L. Kellogg Distinguished Professor of accounting and information management at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, wonders how the commercial development of shale gas will forever alter Gulf economies.
“Oil reserves here are good for only 40 more years,” Balachandran tells Arabic Knowledge@Wharton. “Shale gas reserves are something like 500 years. So if that becomes economically viable, the barrel of crude oil is going to go down to $US15 dollars in three years. Then what happens to the economy here? Is there an alternative strategic plan? This is something they have to think about.”
Balachandran acknowledges that Arab Gulf countries are still flush with cash, and are investing into alternative energy technology. But technology isn’t enough by itself, he notes, nor does being wealthy help innovation.
“When you’re affluent, you are not motivated to change,” he says. “When your survival is threatened, you’ll come forward.”
Read the full story here:
http://bit.ly/zN2Clw
In A Fight Over Hormuz, Gulf Economies Would Be ‘Very Exposed’
Posted by knowledgewhartonarabic in Finance and Investment, Operation Management, Public Policy and Management, Real Estate, Strategic Management on January 26, 2012
The Hormuz Strait is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. With shipping lanes only 2 miles wide to ferry a fifth of the world’s oil trade, it is a choke point in all senses of the word. If closed or blocked, attempts to reopen the strait would concern all of the world’s powers.
The obvious implications of any closure of the Hormuz Strait are stark. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, almost 17 million barrels of oil were transported daily through the Strait last year, representing nearly 20% of global oil trade. (Most Gulf oil exports now head to Asia.) A number of analysts predict prices for oil would jump 100%.
Closely neighboring Iran, most of the Arab Gulf countries would find themselves at risk and their economies under pressure. Instead of benefiting from a windfall from sudden increases in the price of oil, they would be dealing with increased security and logistical costs, a fleeing expatriate workforce, flight of investment capital and a squeeze on resource demands.
Read the story here:
http://bit.ly/AmieD7
