Oil-rich Nations Reassess Investment Plans in Response to Global Trend for Increased Biofuels Usage

Economic and human-resource investment plans are under reassessment in some of the oil-producing countries.  In a recent World Refining and Fuels Conference, Fuad Siala, an analyst from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), mentions that OPEC is rethinking its investment plans as a result of customers increasingly veering away from crude oil in favour of biofuels.  Although biofuels are not yet a major competitor, Siala says that the OPEC is worried that in the coming years, bioenergy would replace a large portion of petroleum energy output.

In a related development, some investors from Arab oil-producing countries are reportedly increasing investments in clean technology ventures. The Government of Abu Dhabi has put $100 million into Masdar, a multimillion dollar investment fund set up for clean technology investment. Masdar is also investing in the development of human resources for clean technology by partnering with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for the establishment of the “Masdar Institute”, envisioned to be a high level research and graduate education school.