A new offshore crude oil field has been discovered in the emirate of Dubai, the government has announced.
The discovery is the first for many years following a decline in the emirateÔÇÖs dependency on oil as production levels gradually decreased.
In recent years, Dubai has followed a strategy that has limited its dependency on the oil sector, thereby enabling the country to survive on an economy generated almost entirely by non-oil gross domestic product (GDP).
Although originally built on the back of the oil industry, DuabiÔÇÖs economy currently derives less than six per cent of its revenues from oil and gas.
Dubai is the second-largest sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates.
Although there has not yet been any official confirmation of size or production capacity of the new find, sources are quoted to have described the discoveryÔÇÖs capacity as ÔÇ£promisingÔÇØ and with the potential to be a source of new income for the emirate.┬á
ÔÇ£Mohammed bin Rashid has the pleasure to announce to the people of the Emirates the discovery of a new marine oil field in Dubai,ÔÇØ the government said in an e-mailed statement.
DubaiÔÇÖs first oil field was discovered in 1966, with the first production being from FatÔÇÖh oilfield in 1969.┬áA second field, Falah, was discovered in 1972, with production there starting in 1978.┬á
Two other fieldsÔÇöRashid and MarghamÔÇöwere discovered in 1973 and 1982 respectively.
The UAE holds about eight per cent of the worldÔÇÖs oil reserves, with most of the federationÔÇÖs deposits owned by Abu Dhabi.
DubaiÔÇÖs known oil reserves are set to run out in about 20 years. The emirate imports natural gas from Qatar for its power plants and industry.
The state-owned Dubai Natural Gas Company (DUGAS) is responsible for processing natural gas produced in DubaiÔÇÖs offshore oil fields, as well as the gas piped from Sharjah.
Dubai Petroleum Co. is the main operator for the emirateÔÇÖs four offshore fields and its one onshore crude deposit, the Margham field.
