Subsidy reform is essential – however energy efficient the Gulf becomes

The Gulf’s soaring domestic energy consumption – the result of profligate use of natural resources as well as massive population growth – is well documented, as is the political sensitivity of restructuring the subsidies that drive it. Low energy tariffs play a major part in the domestic consumption that has seen energy intensity rates in the Gulf continue to rise, while in the rest of the world they come down. According to Deloitte, in 2008, each person in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states consumed on average 9.65TWh of electricity against a global average of 2.782TWh and a Middle East average of 3.384TWh