6. We Have a Serious Problem

A

bu Dhabi’s annual International Petroleum Exhibition and

Conference (ADIPEC) is one of the industry’s most eagerly

awaited trade shows. The Abu Dhabi government bankrolls the

convention, flying in guests from around the world and putting them

up in five- star splendor in the towers that crowd the emirate’s skyline.

The proceedings unfold inside the luxurious Emirates Palace Hotel,

where oil executives and petrostate officials discuss the latest research

in oil and gas. Attendees dig into shrimp and steaks at sumptuous buf-

fets, looking for opportunities to mingle with ruling family members.

The big prize is a piece of the seemingly bottomless market in the Gulf.

The ostentatious ADIPEC conference is an odd venue for a Gulf tech-

nocrat to assume the mantle of Jimmy Carter and call upon fellow citi-

zens to make personal sacrifices. But that is exactly what happened in

2013, when Oman’s energy minister, Mohammed bin Hamad al- Rumhy,

strode to the podium inside the Emirates Palace and pleaded for Gulf

nationals to stop wasting energy. Dr. al- Rumhy, an energy scholar and

longtime petroleum engineer, was appointed to lead Oman’s Ministry

of Oil and Gas in 1997. He had worked his way to the top of the Omani

energy pyramid by way of a doctorate from London’s Imperial College,

followed by management of drilling operations at Petroleum Devel-

opment Oman, the sultanate’s national oil company. He took those