{
  "id": 15797143,
  "title": "The Middle East's Next Energy Boom Has Nothing to Do With Oil",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/the-middle-easts-next-energy-boom-has-nothing-to-do-with-oil",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-20T20:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "OilPrice",
    "slug": "oilprice",
    "url": "https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Middle-Easts-Next-Energy-Boom-Has-Nothing-to-Do-With-Oil.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Middle East is witnessing a new energy revolution, one that does not revolve around oil. At the Energy Trading Week Middle East conference in Dubai, experts highlighted the region's potential to transform its energy consumption and export through low-carbon products. Renewable power, already competitive, is a key player in this shift.\n\nSaravanan Manivel, Director for Low Carbon Fuels at ENGIE Global Energy Management & Sales, noted that renewable power is a significant product itself. Plans are in place to expand capacity, aiming for it to make up about one-third of the energy mix in Gulf countries by 2030. This shift brings both challenges and opportunities.\n\nThe region, being one of the largest producers of ammonia fuel, could leverage its renewable energy to produce green ammonia. Additionally, blue ammonia, produced using natural gas and CCS, is another possibility. Both green and blue ammonia are crucial for the energy transition in the region.\n\nNatural gas will also continue to play a critical role as a transition fuel. Countries in the Middle East, which are major LNG suppliers, will need to reduce their carbon footprint due to upcoming EU regulations on methane leakage. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) offers a cost-effective solution for this.\n\nA report from risk management firm DNV, titled Energy Transition Outlook 2026 Rise of Renewables in the Gulf Region, projects 860 GW of solar PV installed from now until 2040, with an additional 2,200 GW of solar and wind power added between 2040 and 2060. By 2060, 92% of electricity generation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will be non-fossil, up from 14% in 2024. Electricity will account for 35% of energy demand, up from 17% today.\n\nWhile the region is set for dramatic growth in renewable power and electricity generation, there will be a tipping point in 2040 when renewable generation outpaces growth in demand, marking the beginning of an actual energy transition.",
  "summary": "A new Middle East energy system came into view at the Energy Trading Week Middle East conference in Dubai last month. The region’s world’s-lowest costs for solar energy appeared with enormous potential to transform how countries consume and export energy in low-carbon products. “Renewable power is actually very competitive now, so the spotlight for this region when it comes to energy transition…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}