Dubai's Financial Services Authority will remain on guard against money laundering because such safeguards are needed to attract foreign capital, its chief executive said Thursday, and indicated a merger between the Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges could be an "important" development in the Middle East financial system.

We forecast that the United Arab Emirates will account for 8.6% of Middle East regional oil demand by2015, while providing 9.9% of supply. Middle East regional oil use rose to an estimated 7.6mn b/d in2010. It should average 7.9mn barrels per day (b/d) in 2011 and then climb to around 8.9mn b/d by 2015.Regional oil production was 22.83mn b/d in 2001 and averaged an estimated 24.5mn b/d in 2010. Afteran estimated 25.7mn b/d in 2011, it is set to rise to 30.5mn b/d by 2015. Oil exports are growing steadily,because demand growth is lagging the pace of supply expansion. In 2001, the region was exporting anaverage of 17.85mn b/d. This total will have eased to an estimated 16.88mn b/d in 2010 and is forecast toreach 21.54mn b/d by 2015. Iraq has the greatest export growth potential, followed by Qatar.In terms of natural gas, the region consumed an estimated 391bn cubic metres (bcm) in 2010, withdemand of 487bcm targeted for 2015, representing 25% growth. Production of an estimated 455bcm in2010 should reach 642bcm in 2015 (+41%), which implies net exports rising to 154bcm by the end of theperiod. The UAE's estimated share of gas consumption in 2010 will have been 15.5%, while its share ofproduction is put at 11.2%. By 2015, its share of gas consumption is forecast to be 15.9%, with thecountry accounting for 9.7% of supply.The 2010 full-year outturn was US$77.45/bbl for OPEC crude, which delivered an average for North SeaBrent of US$80.34/bbl and for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) of US$79.61/bbl. The BMI price target ofUS$77 was reached thanks to the early onset of particularly cold weather, which drove up demand for andthe price of heating oil during the closing weeks of the year.Global GDP growth in 2011 is forecast at 3.5%, down from 4.3% in 2010. Growth in the US is nowexpected to slow down, but growth in the Eurozone should be marginally higher than last year, whileChinese economic expansion will slow and Japan?s growth will slu

Dubai's top energy decision-making body said it plans to appoint an international consultant to draw up a strategy for the emirate's natural gas requirements until the year 2030, as part of wider plans to meet rising domestic energy demand.

Saudi Arabia's General Authority Of Civil Aviation, or GACA, is still studying a plan that would allow Gulf airline companies to operate domestic flights in the kingdom, an official said.

Inflation across the MENA region was relatively contained in 1H2011, with more than half of our countries under our coverage seeing flat or lower inflation levels compared to end-2010. We currently forecast Egypt to see positive real growth in 2012 of 3.0%, led by a recovery in private consumption and supported by increased tourism, although political developments remain a key factor.