•  
• Tweet
•  
•        Print
•  
•         Track Keywords
•  
• 

By Matthias Knab: I spent most of last week in Dubai, where I was chairing a three-day executive conference with central bankers, CEOs, CIOs, treasurers and other allocators. In a lose series of articles, I will share with you some of the insights gained at that conference.

As any traveler to the economic centres of the Arab Middle East will have seen, a new world is emerging in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain, Over $1.7 trillion of projects planned or underway as of March 2008.

The petrodollar income of the GCC has been $1.3 trillion in the past 6 years, however this is just a drop in the sea as over $30 trillion can be expected to flow into the region in the next 22 years (see detailed analysis below), an amount which some locals have already called "an embarrassment of riches".

Review: The Four GCC Oil Booms

During the 1st Boom from 1972-74, the price of oil increased from $1.90 to $10.41 per barrel. During that period, $73 billion (then 69% of GDP) of Petrodollars were created.

The 2nd boom took place form 1978-1980, when oil increased from $14.55 to $37.96 per barrel. Petrodollars reached $303 billion (60% of GDP).

From 1988 to 1999, oil increased from $15.97 to $24.50, forming a third boom earning $188 billion (31%) of Petrodollars.

The fourth boom, the "boom to end all booms", started in 2002 and is still ongoing. Until the end of 2006, $1.28 trillion (41% of GDP) has been earned. From 1972 to 2006, the cumulative total oil expor......................

To view our full article Click here