The Middle East Is Moving Away From Oil And Gas

In the year 2022, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC which is basically in the Middle East region faced low because of the pandemic, and after the pandemic the hit by increased uncertainty and growing challenges.

The OPEC again reduced the forecasting of oil demand growth in this year of 2023 too. The reason is the prediction of inflation, China's COVID-19 control measures, and high inflation. and static and slow market.

But at the same time, the invasion of Russia and Ukraine in the year 2022 has become another factor that increases the importance of the Middle East in global energy policies.

After the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Middle East began to be considered as an alternative to energy. Especially the energy crisis that the Europeans are facing in this war is enlarging the importance of the Middle east for energy and resources.

These all situations brought the Middle East into the center of global politics.

It is possible to evaluate the gap left by the US in the regional policy of 2022 China is trying to take a central position. And the project of Belt and Road Project which is led by china regarding the New Silk Route is implying that China is trying to be a dominant force in energy policy as well as on the trade line it wants to establish.

The Middle East is an energy source for Dragon China. They import 10 million barrels of crude oil per day and more than  50% of them are from the middle east. As in the recent past, we had seen China trying to increase closeness with Middle Eastern countries, especially with OPEC. The China-Arab summit in Riyad was held in Dec 2022, which is an example of it.

So, for a very long time, this Middle East gains wealth from oil and gas reserves. But now these Countries of the Middle East have started following the pattern of renewable energy.

Now the data are showing that the Middle eastern energy transition is shifting to an electricity mix, 90% of the total energy used in 2022 was from renewable sources, and natural gas was an important unit of them.

The UAE and Qatar had taken steps to implement the policies in their respective domains. An example of this is the Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure which is fully ready in Abu Dhabi. This is a step of the Energy Department. This will lead to more implementation of EVs.

But now in 2023, the Middle East should take some more steps and not put all energy sources under one umbrella. As of now, the world wants a rise in crude oils, more than 2.25 million barrels per day. But the sector must also work on gas and other renewable energy sources. They should find more ways in hydroelectric, solar, nuclear, and other energy sources to maintain their importance as an energy capital. And the timing is right for them as the world is looking to OPEC as an alternative energy recovery source of hope for Russia.