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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: elmatador who wrote (71743)	11/28/2007 12:18:38 PM
From: Chispas	Respond to of 116555

Update - Soverign funds - MANAMA, 28 November 2007 — The Arab region’s overseas investments reached $1.7 trillion and the sovereign wealth funds are set to rise to $20 trillion by 2020, an expert told energy sector meeting yesterday. Lew Watts, president and CEO of PFC Energy Washington, told a client seminar organized by PFC Bahrain that the investment of sovereign funds with certain strategy would help to address many issues including how to weed out poverty. “The sustainable returns on investments of sovereign funds will essentially enhance the GDP which will directly usher in a new era of prosperity and development. These assets can be used to mobilize more resources which can help to reduce the poverty in any economy.” The PFC Client Seminar held at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain was attended by 120 people and addressed by the PFC experts, analysts in addition to the Chairman of PFC Energy based in the US Robin West. Robin West shed a light on the US politics and how it would likely to impact the economic growth worldwide especially in energy-related areas. The speakers and experts during the half-day seminar titled “An Industry Under Stress” tackled many areas directly impacting the energy sector. Watts said that there was a highly unlikely that the US would attack Iran as it would impact adversely at all levels. He said: “Being an analyst I feel there are no chances that the US will attack Iran but if it happens one can imagine the level of disaster due to the lifeline of the global oil industry which heavily relies on Strait of Hormuz. There will be chaos as huge quantity of oil passes through Strait of Hormuz every day. Keeping in view the possible crisis, the already $100 per barrel prices will even go beyond the reach of the consuming countries and will impact the economies adversely.” Highlighting the strategic role of the GCC countries, Watts said that the existing gap due to growing demand of crude in the international market and decline in production of oil by non-OPEC countries, the role of GCC countries become more vital. “The gap due to demand and less production by non-OPEC nation has to be filled by the GCC countries.” Responding to a global natural gas consumption issue, Watts said that Iran, with the second largest reserves of hydrocarbons, was still the world’s third largest natural gas importer economy. “Iran is the third largest gas consumption market after the US and Russia. The high demand is perhaps due to the country’s size and heavy subsidies on natural gas.” The costs of carbon emissions and how it would burden the global economy if not tackled properly through concerted efforts would be very high, he said. “The global community has to address the climate change issues without any delay otherwise the price to repair the damage may be very high and perhaps will be too little and too late.” arabnews.com