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to main index ABU DHABI, DUBAI SIGN GAS DEAL
Agreement has been reached on the supply of gas from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, it was announced yesterday. The gas will help Dubai meet burgeoning demand for industrial and other purposes. An official statement issued through the Dubai Protocol Department said that an agreement had been signed between the two Governments.
On Abu Dhabi's behalf, it was signed by Secretary General of the Supreme Petroleum Council and General Manager of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, Yousef bin Omeir bin Yousef and, on behalf of the Government of Dubai by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Supply Authority.
The signature of the agreement, according to the statement, was "as part of the efforts aimed at strengthening relations between the various emirates and the steps implemented to enhance co-operation between them for the benefit of the UAE Federation."
The statement added that the concluding of the agreement was "in line with directives by President HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan and HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al Maktoum", Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
It was also in line with the policies laid down by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Supreme Petroleum Council, SPC, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan and by Dubai Crown Prince and Minister of Defence General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the statement said. No further details were given.
Under the terms of Abu Dhabi's oil concession agreements, all reserves of gas, whether they are associated with oil reserves, are retained as the wholly-owned property of the Government of Abu Dhabi. (The Emirates News Agency, WAM. Reports in all papers)
The deal has been under negotiation for the past three years. Industry sources said most of the natural gas would be supplied to Dubai from the Abu al Bukhoosh field, which is partially operated by TOTAL of France. ADNOC has already invested nearly $ 800.0 million (Dh 2.94 billion) to develop Abu al Bukhoosh and another offshore field, Umm al Shaif.
Press reports have said that Abu Dhabi would supply nearly 24.0 million cubic metres of natural gas to Dubai through a pipeline that will travel around 120.0 km to the Jebel Ali Free Zone, JAFZ, some 40.0 km south of Dubai city. "I have no accurate information about this deal but I am sure it includes better prices to undercut the Iranian offer," an industry source said. "However, Dubai could still get Iranian gas to diversify supply sources."
TOTAL, which is developing the giant Iranian Sirri field, has proposed selling Dubai around 3.0 million cubic metres of natural gas per day through an underwater pipeline.
Another offer included a $ 2.0 billion gasline from nearby Oman to Dubai and another pipeline from Qatar as part of the planned Gulf gas distribution network that will originate from the mammoth Qatari North Field, the largest single gas reservoir in the world.
Dubai, where energy consumption is growing fast due to industrial expansion, produces around 300,000.0 barrels per day, bpd, of oil but it has no gas. (Agence France-Presse, AFP) , carried in The Gulf Today)
The only details the statement gave was that agreement "to supply Dubai with its needs of natural gas" was signed in Dubai. ADNOC has been negotiating with Dubai for the supply of up to 800.0 million cubic feet per day of gas, which would be used for fuel power, water and industrial plans in Dubai.
The deal with TOTAL to get 100.0 million cubic feet per day of gas from Iran's offshore Sirri field is in place to be re-injected at Dubai's declining offshore oilfields.
Meanwhile, ADNOC last month said that it was proceeding with plans to develop its offshore Khuff gas field. The $ 1.0 billion Khuff development is seen as the centre-piece of ADNOC's plans to boost Abu Dhabi's offshore gas output to supply a new electricity station and to supply gas to Dubai.
The Khuff reservoir lies under the TOTAL SA-operated Abu al Bukhoosh oilfield, an extension to Qatar's massive North Field and Iran's Salman field. (Reuter)
The UAE's commitment to the protection and enforcement of Copyright Law was lauded earlier this week by the International Bar Association at their regional conference in Dubai. "This is an area in which the UAE Government is committed," said Habib Al Redha in his address to the forum.
He praised the efforts of the Ministry of Information and Culture and acknowledged the tremendous strides that were being taken towards the eradication of piracy of intellectual property. "Creativity can flourish, safe in the knowledge that any developments will be fully protected and the creator given full credit and recognition," he added.
The Business Software Association, BSA, has recently officially recognised the efforts that the UAE has made towards the enforcement of copyrights within the country. Furthermore Al Redha said that, as a result, BSA is recommending the removal of the UAE from the United States' 301 Watchlist.
"One of the chief proponents of this enforcement, Minister of Information and Culture Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was presented with an award of recognition of his efforts."
According to Al Redha, the award reinforced the national commitment to cleansing the UAE of any obstacles to full participation at the global level of intellectual property, copyright and trademarks.
"We are aware that we must continue to be vigilant and are now turning our attention to the end users." Reiterating that it is a crime to use such materials or products, Al Redha cited the test case of last year in which an end user was convicted.
"We are encouraging members of the public to come forward to let us know of instances where intellectual property or copyright material are being put out on the market." He indicated, however, that the message that it is just as much an infringement of copyright law to use pirated material is slowly but steadily reaching the public.
"In order to fully occupy our rightful place on the world stage and in the world's markets, we are aware that such enforcement is a vital necessity and it is one which the UAE will achieve," he concluded. (The Emirates News)
ARABS ON COURSE TO ESTABLISH PATENT LAW
The process of setting up a unified Arab model patent law and a unified Arab patent office for registration of all intellectual property, such as trademarks, patents and copyrights, is well underway.
"However, it will take at least two years before the office is established. I am optimistic that the Arab patent office will become functional by the year 2000 and this will be a great accomplishment," Talal Abu Ghazaleh, President of the Munich-based Arab Society for Protection of Intellectual Property told 'The Gulf Today' during a visit to Sharjah yesterday.
The procedure to formulate an Arab patent law is "complicated and specialised" and currently the Society is working on the rules, regulations, policies and principles on the European pattern and on the basis that it will comply with the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS, Agreement, embodied in the final act of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement for Trade and Tariff, GATT, now the World Trade Organisation, WTO.
He said the Society is also in consultation with the World Intellectual Property Organisation, WIPO, a United Nations, UN body, and is studying the model law of WIPO to make it easier to develop and harmonise a unified Arab patent law.
"Also, since the TRIPS Agreement is binding on Arab countries that are members, the harmonising process and the new unified Arab model patent law has to be in conformity with the TRIPS Agreements," he added. The TRIPS Agreement allows countries to make their national laws within the broad framework of the Agreement.
According to Ghazaleh, a unified Arab patent law is significant because it is a pre-requisite for an Arab Common Market. Unless patent laws are harmonised, free trade is not possible among Arab countries and it is a basic requirement for free movement of goods, services and investments.
It is also important for facilitating and encouraging local investment in intellectual property. "Locally, it will encourage investment in creativity because a person's inventions get automatic protection in the 22 countries of the Arab League."
Intellectual property matters are quickly gaining significance worldwide and Arab countries have to keep pace with advanced countries, he added. The Society, he said, is examining various aspects, including locations of the headquarters of the Arab patent office, experts and qualified personnel for the office and research facilities.
Ghazaleh, who last week met Dr Kamel Idris, the WIPO Director General in Geneva, said Idris pledged all support to the governments of the Arab region in matters of patent law. Idris is the first Arab to head the WIPO, he added. (The Gulf Today)
UAE'S EARLIEST WRITING FOUND IN SHARJAH DIG
The earliest writing ever found in the United Arab Emirates has been found during an archaeological excavation on an Iron Age site at Muwailah, near Sharjah, it was announced on Sunday night. The excavation is a joint project of the University of Sydney, Australia, and the University of Ghent, Belgium, under the auspices of the Sharjah Directorate of Antiquities and Museums.
Addressing an invited audience at the Sharjah Archaeological Museum on Sunday night, the director of the excavations, Dr. Peter Magee, of Sydney University, announced that a shard of pottery dated to the Iron Age II period, some time between 1100 BC and 600 BC carried three letters which have been tentatively identified as being in an ancient South Arabian alphabet.
"This artefact represents the single most important object yet recovered in our four seasons of work at Muwailah," Magee said. "When fully analysed, it will raise many more questions than it will answer, but it will, I believe, force us to re-evaluate our understanding of late prehistoric South-Eastern Arabia." The three letters on the potsherd have been tentatively identified as the South Arabian letters B, M and L.
"This find not only predates the earliest use of South Arabian in this area by over 500 years, but also represents a very early manifestation of the language outside its centre, " Magee said. Other artefacts with inscriptions in South Arabian have been found in sites in the Mileiha area, inland from Muwailah, but are significantly later in date.
Other major finds at Muwailah during the course of the current season, which began in early January, include a bronze pick, weighing over 2.0 kilograms, and an iron knife.
Although the local Iron Age in the Emirates began around 1,300 BC, the use of iron actually commenced much later, and the metal is not commonly found on archaeological sites until around 300 BC, at what is known as the beginning of the Pre-Islamic Recent, PIR, period.
During the 1997 season of work at Muwailah, the first iron implement that could be dated to the Iron Age itself was uncovered, and the iron knife found this season provides further confirmation of the use of iron at the site. Bronze, however, continued to be the metal most commonly used during the UAE Iron Age, and this year's work at Muwailah has found further evidence of bronze working on the site.
Around 3,000 small pieces of bronze have now been found, Magee said, "which mostly consist of blobs of bronze, perhaps the refuse from casting. Included also among these lumps were several pieces which were clearly mis-cast pins and other objects." Final confirmation of bronze working at Muwailah was also proven this season with the discovery last weekend of a small cache of bronze objects.
"These had clearly just been made, and included the blade of a small axe, a spearpoint and three arrowheads. The clearest indicator of the manufacturing processing involved in this area," Magee added, "was four typical bronze arrowheads, two of which still had the nodules from the mould attached. Such direct evidence for the manufacturing process of these objects is unparalleled in this region."
The Muwailah site covers at least 100 metres by 100 metres, "the largest single enclosure space in the South-Eastern Iron Age," according to Magee. Inside the enclosure are at least two large buildings. The method of construction of the buildings was one of stone foundations with mud-brick walls, with a large stone-based wall surrounding the whole site, suggesting fortification.
While some of the rooms uncovered are small, others are extensive, and Magee said, after his lecture, that in one room, stone column bases and the remains of wooden pillars have just been found, indicative of the use of sophisticated building techniques.
During the four years of work at the site, evidence of extensive burning and of roof collapses have convinced the archaeologists that the buildings must have been destroyed by fire. This view has been complemented by the discovery of broken pots on the floors of many of the rooms, the abandonment of the cache of bronze weapons and by the uncovering of a skeleton on the floor of one room, clearly a resident who had been overcome by the fire.
Carbon 14 dating has provided a date range of after 750 BC and before 600 BC for the date of the destruction. The Muwailah site, on which Magee plans further work next winter season, is unique in the Emirates - a large well-built permanent settlement in the desert hinterland away from the coastal strip and the well-watered plains along the edge of the mountains, such as those at Hili and Rumeilah, in Al Ain, or at Al Thuqaibah, south of Dhaid.
Current climatic conditions, Magee said, "have led many archaeologists to assume, falsely, that the desert area was only ever occupied by nomads and that no trace of intensive occupation with substantial architectural remains would ever be found there. Our work at Muwailah has started to reveal the distorted nature of these assumptions," he said. (The 'Emirates News')
