Geostrategic oil interests and the Gulf (page 2 of 2)

Among them are the Gulf states themselves, which have high population growth and ambitious and energy intensive development plans. Air-conditioned buildings, desalination plants and heavy industries like aluminum, steel and fertilizer - all these need energy. The Gulf countries already consume 17 percent of their own oil production and have one of the highest growth rates in energy consumption worldwide.

At the end of the day, energy conservation and new forms of energy will be needed alongside a fair distribution of oil and gas resources. It becomes increasingly discernible that there is not enough energy out there to replicate the lifestyle of the industrialized countries on a worldwide scale. International institutions like the IEA expect that the Gulf region would need to double its production over the next 25 years to meet the increasing demand projections. Saudi Arabia has already cautioned that production increases will only be possible on a more modest scale, while other experts have questioned the ability to raise production altogether, given the mature oil fields in the region.

Therefore, energy conservation, a change in consumption patterns, especially in the industrialized countries, and an international dialogue on energy issues and alternatives are badly needed to avoid the kind of unilateral coercion and violent resource conflict that we have been witnessing already.