The Office of Research at Zayed University was pleased to present a Research Session by Justin Dargin, Energy Research Fellow for Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Dubai Initiative at Harvard University.

Justin Dargin is a specialist in International and Energy Law, a prolific author and prominent lecturer on global energy affairs. He specializes in carbon trading, the global oil and gas market, the legal framework surrounding the Gulf energy sector and Middle Eastern geopolitics. He has spent long periods of time living and traveling in the Gulf and North Africa.

Mr Dargin spoke on the topic of “Economical Development of UAE’s Energy Resources towards Sustainability” followed by a plenary discussion with students and faculty on “Challenges that lay ahead of Adequate Production in UAE’s Energy Sector.”

According to Mr Dargin, "the issue of natural gas is essential to the economic development of the Gulf. The region is blessed with abundant natural gas reserves, approximately twenty-five percent of the global total, but the region has only about eight percent of the global production reserves.”

He further adds, “...however, it was the sharp increase of the international price of oil and natural gas from 2001-2008 that truly caused economic growth in the region to take off. The economic growth in the region precipitated natural gas shortages which could become an obstacle to future economic growth.”

Mr Dargin concluded the lecture with an engaging discussion on proactive steps that the UAE could take in order to forestall energy shortages and develop a viable plan for future economic growth, based on its prodigious energy reserves.