Oil Is More a Blessing than a Curse
The United Arab Emirates is famous for its crude oil resources. Country Analysis Briefs in the context of the report for the US Energy Information Administration highlights UAE to have the oil resources of “about 98.63 billion barrels (15.681×109 m3), almost as big as Kuwait’s claimed reserves”.
When being used in political games and intrigues due to the ambitions at the global international arena, the crude oil resources are the major part of the national economy that presents the treasure for the country. On the other hand, working the resources out and providing them to the trade makes the country less productive in the other fields of economy, apart from devastation of the oil natural resources. In this relation, the objectives of the government are, of course, related to the need of funding the national budget an state projects. However, natural resources are even of ten ore significance to be saved for the other generations of Arabians. It is hardly to justify in this case, whether the crude oil resource are a blessing or a curse for the United Arabian Emirates. The state pushed the resources of the country in this area under the strict control; therefore it would be a good luck if the oil is still in high price. Otherwise, the national economy being stuck to the oil resources can hardly deal with predominant challenges within the international arenas environment.
Despite of the problems the country faces within the fuel market, oil is more a blessing than a curse, due to the following reasons: 1) it funds national budget with regular profits; 2) it can be used for raising national economy in material resources stimulating development; 3) oil creates a strong political outcomes for the UAE, for this country is considered to be a powerful player on the international arena amongst the countries of OPEC, U.S., EU and other global players that put oil issues as valuable resources to the checklist. The positive image of UAE is created due to the oil resources.
Oil: Blessing for the National Economy
The national economy of the UAE has been in great support from the oil resources. The country has been developing its attempts to develop more initiatives within the oil industry, including securitization of funds and developing country’s local initiatives on diversification of sectors of economics. For instance, Matthias Pauwels formulates the need to principally justify between oil as the resource for development of the national economy and oil as the resource to play political games. The author supports the point of view that the UAE should formulate new principles of the energy culture, working out the radical new conception, according to which the oil devastation should be minimized and consumption o this resource should not exceed the valuable limits.
The national economy has been developing within the initiaves of the UAE government, including trading benefits. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor is aware that there is no need to “blame falling oil prices – which have hit five-year lows at $62 a barrel due to a glut in the market combined with reduced demand from countries undergoing a reduction in growth.”. This point is valuable within the frameworks of the discussion in terms of the controversial matters on the need of the crude oil resources in use. The United Arab Emirates has been successfully diversifying its economy.
Oil: Blessing for the UAE Budget
Statistically, “71% of UAE’s total GDP comes from non-oil sectors”. The diversification of sectors of the national economy in UAE is high, however, the oil sector about up to 30% per the oil resources share in the national economy is high that makes benefits for budget. In this relation, the oil sector of economy plays much of part within the frameworks of the UAE budget.
Since the location of the UAE crude oil natural resources are located within the area “a gravity of 31° API (specific gravity of 0.871) and a sulfur content of 2%/weight”, the safety of them should be provided effectively. In this relation, there is a good chance to take care about the quality of the crude oil benefits for the forthcoming success in the upcoming perspectives.
The budget capacity can be extended within the active frameworks of the oil sector development. This is what Patrick Osgood &Shehab suggest in their idea of improvements on the oil pipeline within the UAE in the frameworks of the sets of coordinates that are useful for the oil selling integration and storing the crude oil within the reservoirs. This will turn the approach to the oil resources to the kid of the good perspectives for the United Arabian Emirates.
Oil: Blessing for Politicians
It is of more value for the UAE that politicians can use the “oil card” to play games at the global world arena. There is no secret that oil resources are being used by those who are in need for political power support, including UAE sheikhs who put oil resources under their control to have impact on political positions of theirs within the country and within the international arena. There is a great interest in oil resources in this relation, for the “oil has been a curse in disguise, with mismanagement of oil revenues, unequal distribution of wealth and the Machiavellian power of the rentier state – which in the case of Libya proved to be fatal.”. However, there is of more political interest that prevails over the human health and global warming issues that is based on the fuel misuse. The author is aware that “hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds” are the source of the increasingly high cancer cases and respiratory diseases within the country. Therefore he regards the oil rather as curse than a blessing. In this relation, it can be treated as “the paradox of oil: a financial curse in disguise”, but there is still the chance to take away from the market of the crude oil and stay apart from devastation of the natural resources.
Blessing vs. Curse: Justification
The effect of the blessing or a curse is just a symbolic meaning of the notions that are able within the frameworks of political economical constraints that the UAE has to experiences year by year. The country’s government is aware that crude oil is a blessing for it is focused on the notion that there is justification in the balance in the natural resources and their proportional devastation.
Of course, as for the funding of the national budget, the oil resources can be considered as a kid of God’s blessing. However, on the other hand, oils resources are the subject of to much of manipulation between the key players of traders. The national oil company ENOC is the key player in the industry. It supports the diversification of the resources on the matter of successful distribution of the workforce in the areas of the oil interest.
However, the major problem is that “mismanagement of large proportions of oil revenues is embedded in the asymmetry of economic, political, and cultural perspectives”. Politics are the key players who are in the advantage of distributing resources according to the specific interests. In this relation, the blessing of the oil can be considered as a simple devastation of the natural resources within the country. The fact is that about 30% of the UAE national economy is for the oil industry. Being rich in oil, they are about to put diversification at stakes in order to support the alternative sectors of the national economy.
Conclusion
The argumentation of the implications that the crude oil resources devastation has on the UAE national economy is controversial. Despite of the opposing opinions, the country should be proud to be rich with the oil natural resources. In the field of the alternative opinion, the oil resources is a curse related to the issues of currency and oil prices fluctuations in the international market.
It is another problem that is related to the “oil issue” is the need to care about the environmental issues. The devastation of the material resources is a high rate of danger for the future generations that will be living based on the contemporary results of oil use. In this relation, the governmental protection of the crude oil resources should not be limited to the current initiatives on building the oil pipes and reservoirs for storing and transportation of the oil for export purposes. The issues on restoration of natural resources should be parted from objectives to smaller goals.
The use of oil resources in UAE within the frameworks of national economy is the step to extensive type of economical approach. It means that natural resources are used in the global scales as the part of trading activities in the international market. However, there is a need to take care about the quality of the further discussion on the opposition and alienation between pros and cons, between blessings and curses. However, oil is blessing due to its positive impact on economical and political image of UAE. National economy has been developing within the perspectives of crude oil resources.
