ABU DHABI: The UAE expects only a “moderate” increase in output from US shale oil producers next year, even if oil prices maintain their steady upward trend.
Suhail Al-Mazrouei, the Emirates’ minster for energy, told an audience at the Bloomberg Invest Abu Dhabi event in the UAE capital that he had been “positively surprised” that growth in US shale output has been relatively low this year, despite the crude oil price hitting the $60 per barrel amount most experts regard as the economic level for profitable shale production.
“Growth in shale has not been as fast as expected, and I think it will also be moderate next year. I think the shale producers have in the past concentrated on the ‘sweet spots’ — reservoirs where it’s cheap and easy to get oil. But the new reservoirs are not as easy, and the costs are higher,” he said.
“So while I think shale oil production will increase, I don’t think it will rise enough to offset the production limits agreed under the OPEC deal, combined with the increase in global demand for oil. We were surprised by the growth in demand in 2017, and I think next year will also be healthy,” he added.
Al-Mazrouei said that Abu Dhabi had invested 400 billion dirhams ($109 billion) in its oil industry, making it one of the most efficient in the world. “I’m sometimes asked if we can compete against the low-cost producers, but we are one of the lowest-cost producers and that will continue.”
He said that at the recent OPEC meeting in Vienna, “a group of responsible nations came up with a production cut to manage the glut of oil and reduce inventories. OPEC will continue to be a responsible market balancer for oil supplies.”
Waleed Al-Muhairi, who is chief executive of alternative investments for the Mubadala Investment Company, told the gathering that it had invested in 16 technology firms as part of its $15 billion investment in the SoftBank Vision Fund, in which Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is also a leading investor. He said the investments had been in the sectors of artificial intelligence, robotics, and agricultural technology, including what he described as “vertical farming,” a high-tech form of agriculture that he said was more efficient than farming “in the ground.”
Mubadala is to open an office in San Francisco to be near to investment prospects in America’s technology heartland.
Mohamed Jameel Al-Ramahi, chief executive of the Masdar alternative energy business, said that he was considering big investments in Saudi Arabia, including in the solar panel business.
“It’s clear that Saudi Arabia, as the biggest economy in the region, is a very important market and they are committed to renewables. We are also committed to that market,” he said.
UAE sees only ‘moderate’ rise in shale output
UAE sees only ‘moderate’ rise in shale output
AI will never replace human creativity, says SRMG CEO
- Speaking to Maya Hojeij, senior business anchor at Asharq with Bloomberg, Jomana R. Alrashid expressed pride in SRMG platforms that had absorbed and adopted AI
RIYADH: Jomana R. Alrashid, CEO of Saudi Research and Media Group, highlighted how AI cannot replace human creativity during a session at The Family Office’s “Investing Is a Sea” summit at Shura Island on Friday.
“You can never replace human creativity. Journalism at the end of the day, and content creation, is all about storytelling, and that’s a creative role that AI does not have the power to do just yet,” Alrashid told the investment summit.
“We will never eliminate that human role which comes in to actually tell that story, do the actual investigative reporting around it, make sure to be able to also tell you what’s news or what’s factual from what’s wrong ... what’s a misinformation from bias, and that’s the bigger role that the editorial player does in the newsroom.”
Speaking on the topic of AI, moderated by Maya Hojeij, senior business anchor at Asharq with Bloomberg, the CEO expressed her pride in SRMG platforms that had absorbed and adopted AI in a way that was “transformative.”
“We are now translating all of our content leveraging AI. We are also now being able to create documentaries leveraging AI. We now have AI-facilitated fact-checking, AI facilities clipping, transcribing. This is what we believe is the future.”
Alrashid was asked what the journalist of the future would look like. “He’s a journalist and an engineer. He’s someone who needs to understand data. And I think this is another topic that is extremely important, understanding the data that you’re working with,” she said.
“This is something that AI has facilitated as well. I must say that over the past 20 years in the region, especially when it comes to media companies, we did not understand the importance of data.”
The CEO highlighted that previously, media would rely on polling, surveys or viewership numbers, but now more detailed information about what viewers wanted was available.
During the fireside session, Alrashid was asked how the international community viewed the Middle Eastern media. Alrashid said that over the past decades it had played a critical role in informing wider audiences about issues that were extremely complex — politically, culturally and economically — and continued to play that role.
“Right now it has a bigger role to play, given the role again of social media, citizen journalists, content creators. But I also do believe that it has been facilitated by the power that AI has. Now immediately, you can ensure that that kind of content that is being created by credible, tier-A journalists, world-class journalists, can travel beyond its borders, can travel instantly to target different geographies, different people, different countries, in different languages, in different formats.”
She said that there was a big opportunity for Arab media not to be limited to simply Arab consumption, but to finally transcend borders and be available in different languages and to cater to their audiences.
The CEO expressed optimism about the future, emphasizing the importance of having a clear vision, a strong strategy, and full team alignment.
Traditional advertising models, once centered on television and print, were rapidly changing, with social media platforms now dominating advertising revenue.
“It’s drastically changing. Ultimately in the past, we used to compete with one another over viewership. But now we’re also competing with the likes of social media platforms; 80 percent of the advertising revenue in the Middle East goes to the social media platforms, but that means that there’s 80 percent interest opportunities.”
She said that the challenge was to create the right content on these platforms that engaged the target audiences and enabled commercial partnerships. “I don’t think this is a secret, but brands do not like to advertise with news channels. Ultimately, it’s always related with either conflict or war, which is a deterrent to advertisers.
“And that’s why we’ve entered new verticals such as sports. And that’s why we also double down on our lifestyle vertical. Ultimately, we have the largest market share when it comes to lifestyle ... And we’ve launched new platforms such as Billboard Arabia that gives us an entry into music.”
Alrashid said this was why the group was in a strong position to counter the decline in advertising revenues across different platforms, and by introducing new products.
“Another very important IP that we’ve created is events attached to the brands that have been operating in the region for 30-plus years. Any IP or any title right now that doesn’t have an event attached to it is missing out on a very big commercial opportunity that allows us to sit in a room, exchange ideas, talk to one another, get to know one another behind the screen.”
The CEO said that disruption was now constant and often self-driving, adding that the future of the industry was often in storytelling and the ability to innovate by creating persuasive content that connected directly with the audience.
“But the next disruption is going to continue to come from AI. And how quickly this tool and this very powerful technology evolves. And whether we are in a position to cope with it, adapt to it, and absorb it fully or not.”
