Over the next decade, the Middle East will have to build an enormous amount of crude production and new electricity-generating capacity to balance the crude revenue deficit and to keep pace with demands of power consumption.
This is according to AES Arabia’s Business Development Manager Asad Iqbal Khan, who quoted aging plants, growing population and economic and industrial diversification as some of the key drivers for developing the region’s crude oil production capacity.
Another challenge in the region is waste water management with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE suffering from a severe shortage of usable water.
While the region’s industry needs to do much more, national oil and gas companies are becoming more aware of the challenges presented by waste water management.
“Waste water reuse is becoming increasingly understood in the Middle East and many countries are now looking forward to ways of improving and expanding wastewater reuse practices.
An increased awareness of the issue has spurred the growth of the desalination sector in the region and also attracted large investments by governments and foreign sectors to meet demand.
He added: “The Middle East is making heavy investments in environmental infrastructure and equipment as waste water treatment is the largest segment of environmental equipment in this region.”
