Dubai Discovers Some More Oil

Today it was announced that a new, off-shore, oil field has been discovered in the Emirate of Dubai.

The ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum, “heralds the good news to the people of the United Arab Emirates that a new off-shore oil field has been discovered in Dubai,” a government statement said.

It is entirely possible that this oil field was already known to Dubai but has been announced now in an effort to calm fears that it may default on some of its debts. Dubai has a very small share of the oil in the UAE, the vast majority being found in neighbouring Emirate, Abu Dhabi. Any new revenue from oil sales will no doubt ease the pressures on the Emirate which borrowed heavily to fund its property boom.

However, it will take years for any new oil field to be made production ready, so in the short term there is still more pain for Dubai to go through. Some estimate that the population of Dubai will decrease another 10% in 2010, exasperating the problem of a property surplus as buildings continue to be finished this year.

I wish Dubai & Sheikh Maktoum good luck, as Roosevelt said, it is not the critic who counts … the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.