Global oil supply chains have become strained since the start of the pandemic. With crude oil capacity issues affecting countries around the world, it’s become more important for nations to build up strategic infrastructure that can support growing demand.
Following a boom in global air travel, and record increases in demand for oil due to the post-pandemic recovery, countries are facing numerous supply chain difficulties. Across the Middle East, the UAE and Kuwait in particular, there has been a renewed focus on building up reserves and creating more storage capacity for the long-term.
Andrea Fischer, Director Of Engineering at Elapath Energy, one of the leading firms providing construction and maintenance services for the oil industry, has urged countries in the Middle East to focus on strategic autonomy.
Through transformational oil storage projects, economies in the Middle East have been able to meet domestic and international demand, but with more strain on global supplies, infrastructure planning is needed to keep up with the pace. This was most evident with the recent crisis in the Suez Canal, where a container ship got stuck causing a global backlog in supplies from oil to clothes and everyday goods. This also led to large cost increases for businesses and consumers that rely on uninterrupted global trade.
Countries including Kuwait have been seeking to increase capacity in recent years, building national infrastructure to support objectives for supply chain security. Among recent projects include a proposed oil reserve for 8 million barrels that would ensure energy security. With an increased emphasis on oil storage space, companies including Elapath Energy have been building some of the most complex construction projects in the industry over the past several years – leading to transformational gains in terms of local economic development, and exports.
As the world moves into its recovery phase, the Middle East is once again playing a vital role in supporting economic growth through energy production and distribution, and now more than ever, there’s a need for countries to start thinking about how they go about their energy security.