UAE - Part 4 - Sharjah's Decision Makers.

Like Dubai and the other members of the UAE, the emirate of Sharjah has kept its hydrocarbon sector independent from the Abu Dhabi-based federal ministry of petroleum and mineral resources. There are no restrictions on oil and gas output levels in Sharjah, with the operators always urged to maximise production.

Basically, the decision making process in the UAE remains as it was when the federation of seven emirates was created on Dec. 2, 1971. The federal structure reflects a careful allocation of power among the emirates, with Abu Dhabi being the first among equals in view of its vast wealth. The Supreme Council of Rulers is the main decision making body, and Abu Dhabi ruler Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan is its president. This is followed by the Council of Ministers which has a mainly administrative role. The Federal National Council, or parliament, is a consultative body with limited powers (see Downstream Trends).

The whole emirate of Sharjah has become a free zone. It offers incentives which compare favourably to those of Umm Al Quwain and other UAE emirates, as well as an attractive price for gas being used as industrial feedstock and special credit facilities. But Jebel Ali of Dubai remains the most attractive free zone, not only in the Gulf but throughout the Middle East, with Dubai's decision makers being exceptionally pragmatic and they will soon have the world's first e-government (see OMT 22).

Sharjah's petroleum sector has no bureaucracy. The emirate's ruler makes the decisions concerning upstream deals or major downstream projects. He has allowed the main concessionaire, BP Amoco/Arco Sharjah, a free hand in optimising condensate and gas production. Exports are priced according to spot market quotations. Most of the condensate exports are shipped to the US market (see fields' profiles in Gas Market Trends No. 21).

Sharjah is controlled by a "Bani Mohammed" branch of the ruling Al Qassimi family, consisting of Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi (the ruler), and four half-brothers - Abdel Aziz (inactive since 1990), Saqr, Abdullah and Ahmad. Their cousins, of the "Bani Sultan" branch that once ruled Sharjah, share some power but are mostly in business. Another branch, the "Bani Salim", which once ruled both Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, shares some powers with Shaikh Sultan. (A different "Bani Mohammed" branch of the Al Qassimis rules Ras Al Khaimah).