UAE's oil reserves to last 92 years: Report

The UAE's oil reserves of 97.8 billion barrels, which make 7.9 per cent of the world's total stocks, would last 92 years at current production levels, according to a report.

The UAE's crude oil output on an average rose 1.53 per cent to 2.66 million barrels per day (bdp) for the quarter ended June as compared to the January-March quarter, latest data by the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows.

The Middle East's oil reserves stood at 755 billion barrels, or 61 per cent of the world's total, while the global oil reserves amounted to 1.24 trillion barrels, said the data.

The UAE's oil consumption rose 7.7 per cent to 450,000 barrels per day in 2007, registering the highest growth rates in the Middle East.

The UAE's proven oil reserves of 97.8 billion barrels make 7.9 per cent of the world's total reserves, said the 2008 BP Statistical Review of World Energy.

Oil prices hold above 142 dollars ahead of US energy report

Oil prices breached 142 dollars per barrel again on Wednesday, nearing recent record heights, as traders awaited the latest weekly snapshot on energy stockpiles in the United States.

New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, jumped 1.06 dollars to 142.03 dollars a barrel in early European trade.

Brent North Sea oil for August delivery climbed 1.34 dollars to 142.01 dollars a barrel.

Prices rocketed to record highs on Monday on the back of tensions over oil producers Iran and Nigeria, and as the dollar remained weak against other major currencies, traders said.

London Brent oil scored an all-time high of 143.91 dollars and New York crude enjoyed a life-time peak of 143.67.

Concerns over geopolitical tension in the Middle East, the struggling US dollar and unrest in Nigeria continued to drive the market, dealers said.

"They are talking about the usual stuff like the weak dollar, Iran and Nigeria," said Clarence Chu, a trader with Hudson Capital Group, a New York-based energy trading house.

"I would say people are still leaning towards the bullish side but they are looking for new news."

He added that the market would seek fresh direction from the US Department of Energy's oil inventories report that was due for publication later Wednesday.

The weekly US update is crucial for the market because the United States is the world's biggest energy consuming nation, followed by number two China.

A weak US currency, meanwhile, makes dollar-denominated raw materials like oil cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies, and therefore tends to stimulate demand.

G8 leaders to set up task force on food crisis: report

Leaders from the Group of Eight industrial powers will agree to establish a task force at their summit next month to tackle the world food crisis, a report said on Monday.

The group will aim to address the immediate problem of food shortages in poorer countries as well as address longer-term challenges such as boosting food production, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, citing unnamed government sources.

The working group is also expected to discuss removal of export restrictions and directing global food stockpiles to those most in need, the daily said.

The report came after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would press G8 leaders at their July summit in Japan to tackle the world food crisis, as well as climate change and the flagging fight against global poverty.

The G8 is made up of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

G8 leaders are expected to issue a statement on the food crisis at the summit in the northern Japanese resort town of Toyako, senior Japanese official Masaharu Kohno has said.

G8 finance ministers warned at their meeting earlier this month that soaring oil and food prices pose "a serious challenge to stable growth worldwide" and may worsen poverty and stoke global inflation.

Most expensive flat in Asia sold in Hong Kong: report

A luxury flat in Hong Kong has sold for 225 million Hong Kong dollars (28.8 million US), the most expensive apartment per square foot ever sold in Asia, a report said on Wednesday.

The 80th floor penthouse with a private swimming pool and spectacular view of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour sold for 41,000 dollars per square foot, a report in the Sing Tao Daily said, citing an unnamed real estate source.

The 5,497-square-foot (511-square-metre) flat, with its own roof-top terrace, is located in a new complex called The Arch, in Hong Kong's Kowloon area.

The Arch is close to a yet-to-be-completed office tower, the International Commerce Centre.

The new tower is attracting multinational firms away from the central business district, where rocketing property prices have scared away even the world's richest firms.

The flat's price beat the record of 39,800 dollars per square foot set last November for a larger apartment on Hong Kong island, according to the report.

Hong Kong's property market has boomed in recent years, following a major crash during the Asian financial crisis in the later 1990s.

Shift in Asian currency strategy to fight inflation: report

Export-driven Asian economies are shifting away from a strategy of keeping currencies weak against the US dollar in an indication of troubling times for the region, a US think tank said on Wednesday.

Central banks in Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea on Tuesday reportedly began selling dollars to shore up their currencies to fight inflationary concerns stemming from surging oil prices.

"The currency-strengthening move undertaken by the central banks Tuesday is a shift in policy," Stratfor, a US-based private intelligence service, told its corporate clients in a bulletin Wednesday. It raised the specter of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, when currencies in the region plunged and sent economies reeling into turmoil, the think tank said.

"While the events Tuesday do not necessarily signal the beginning of another crisis, they certainly show that at least a few East Asian countries have hit some sort of threshold," Stratfor said. "They can no longer keep up with rising commodity prices," it said.

While Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea are lower- and mid-level economies in East Asia, "the decisions by their central banks are important, especially as a sign of what may come," it warned.

By moving to strengthen their currencies, the Asian economies are attempting to makes imports cheaper and contain the inflationary effects of soaring oil and other commodity costs, experts say.

Typically, Asian countries keep their own currencies weak to keep their products at lower prices which translates into higher demand from foreign markets, supporting the export-centric economies. But Stratfor pointed out that this system worked best when the dollar was strong and the price low for raw material like minerals, including oil, building supplies and food. Right now this is not the case -- oil has skyrocketed to about 130 dollars per barrel and grain prices are also at record highs and raw materials in fierce demand, hurting the largely manufacturing economies in the region. Stratfor also pointed out that "the real pain" from high commodity prices was not necessarily being felt by the countries that reportedly tinkered with their currencies Tuesday, but by China and Thailand, which operate the most manufacturing-dependent economies in the region.

In China, it said, the high cost of raw materials and energy was further shrinking already-tight profit margins. In addition, rising cost of food can quickly lead to social upheaval in the world's most populous nation, it said.

China has allowed its yuan currency to strengthen gradually against the dollar but Stratfor said if China suddenly ramped up the yuan, it risked shuttering factories that depend on exports and thus increasing unemployment. It also runs the risk of devaluing a significant portion of the approximately 1.7 trillion dollars in savings it holds in foreign exchange reserves. "Ultimately, these actions -- and those taken by the central banks Tuesday -- do not change the fact that China, like all manufacturing-heavy economies, is in for some challenging times ahead," Stratfor warned.

Pentagon auditors unable to keep pace with spending: report

The Pentagon's internal watchdog office has warned in a report to Congress made public on Tuesday that its auditors are unable to keep pace with a ballooning US defense budget.

The rapid growth of the defense budget to more than 600 billion dollars "leaves the department increasingly more vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse," the Pentagon's Office of the Inspector General said.

The March 2008 report said the office's ability to adequately cover high risk areas and defense priorities "has become strained due to the fact that our staffing levels have remained nearly constant."

"Furthermore, the demand for IG services to support the GWOT (global war on terrorism) and the ongoing operations in Southwest Asia has forced us to readjust priorities," it said.

The result has been "gaps in coverage in important areas, such as major weapons systems acquisition, health care fraud, product substitution, and defense intelligence agencies."

The agency said that to expand its work force it needed 25 million dollars more in funding in 2009 than the 247 million dollars requested by the administration.

The report was made public by the Project on Government Oversight, a private non-profit group dedicated to exposing waste and corruption in government.

Nick Schwellenbach, the group's national security investigator, said, "It's stunning that we've been spending so much for so long with so little oversight."

Whereas in 1997 there was one auditor for each 642 million dollars in Pentagon contracts, in 2007 the ratio was one auditor for each 2.03 billion dollars in contracts, according to the report.

It said 152 billion dollars in money spent on weapons acquisitions in 2007 received insufficient audit coverage.