Dubai to set up committee to monitor trading of petroleum products

The Dubai Supreme Council of Energy plans to set up a permanent committee to monitor the trading of petroleum products in the emirate to protect the environment and ensure “the highest standards of safety and security” in the trading of such products.

The plan was discussed during an online meeting chaired by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, the emirate's media office said on Monday.

Vice chairman Saeed Al Tayer said the council had issued resolution No 3 of 2021 to outline the regulatory framework, strategies and regulations for the trading of liquefied petroleum gas and its derivatives in the emirate.

“In its directive, the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy stipulated the necessity of obtaining its authorisation to issue the permit to complete all approvals and requirements from government authorities in the emirate, according to their respective requirements,” Mr Al Tayer said.

“The Supreme Council will co-ordinate with government authorities to conduct joint inspection campaigns to ensure that workers in this sector follow the directive and apply the highest safety and security standards.”

The meeting also reviewed the savings achieved by the 2030 Dubai Demand Side Management Strategy.

In 2021, savings stood at 6.4 terawatts of electricity, equal to “approximately 12.5 per cent of business as usual”, and about 12.2 billion imperial gallons of water, equal to “9.4 per cent of business as usual”, the council said.

Since 2011, demand-side programmes have contributed to avoiding 14.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, leading to savings worth Dh9 billion ($2.45bn), it said.

The emirate plans to reduce carbon emissions by 30 per cent before the end of 2030, as per the plan approved by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy earlier this year.

The plan is expected to support the UAE’s efforts to achieve the country's net zero ambitions by 2050.

Dubai also plans to raise the share of renewables in its energy mix to 14 per cent by the end of 2022, as part of its target to generate 25 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable sources by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2050.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Gulf Under 19s final

Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B

Scoreline:

Everton 4

Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', Digne 56', Walcott 64'

Manchester United 0

Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton)

Match info:

Burnley 0

Manchester United 2
Lukaku (22', 44')

Red card: Marcus Rashford (Man United)

Man of the match: Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5