Nagwa Abdallah Nour - Al Ahram Press Foundation, Cairo, Egypt

The Persian Gulf region remains the world’s main source of conventional crude oil resources, currently possessing 84 percent of global proven reserves and 28 percent of world’s fossil fuel output (2005). This share is expected to increase as world oil consumption rises. The Persian Gulf’s production share was 27 percent in 2001, and is projected to rise to 37 percent by 2025, or, in the case of stable and relatively low prices, to 42 percent by that year. Consequently, Persian Gulf oil is of considerable interest to Western oil companies, governments, producers and Western and Asian consumers