Dubai International to make bid for Liverpool FC

[Morten_nogamst_Pedersen]

Exactly. They wouldn't let it happen again, would they?

Oooh, touchè!

Hopefully you have a good point there.

[baz87]

The sheikh isn't a Liverpool fan. Sammer Al-Ansari is. His job is the head of DIC, which is the company that are apparently attempting to buy LFC.

DIC is a compay that is owned by the Sheikh.

LOL i know all that. In case you didn't know there's been an article saying the Sheikh was a fan as a child and that he's taking a personal interest in the takeover.

However no matter how big a Liverpool fan Al-Ansari is, he will not pay OTT for us without the permission of the Sheikh. His job is to make good investments not to buy himself 'toys'.

[Lecter]

The sheikh isn't a Liverpool fan. Sammer Al-Ansari is. His job is the head of DIC, which is the company that are apparently attempting to buy LFC.

DIC is a compay that is owned by the Sheikh.

The Sheikh is an LFC fan, so is Ansari

[Lecter]

I think there is significance in Tony Barrett suddenly linking him directly to the deal.

[barnes10]

Im very warey of this talk of the Sheikh being a Liverpool fan etc. Had he been a fan then im of no doubt they'd already own us as he gets what he wants. At best he may take a passing interest.

Whether he's taking an interest in the takeover, thats very possible. I wrote a uni assignment on him and Dubai (unrelated to Liverpool) around 18months ago and the guy takes a keen interest in all his investments and to a degree if he thinks something is a good investment he'll ignore the advice his people give to him (Palm island - he was told it was a bad idea business wise but he still went ahead with it and was proven right). Whether he feels that way about us im not sure but if he has made his mind up that he wants us then one way or another he will get us.

However if he hasn't got that sort of feeling about us and he's not a fan (like i think) then they'll only buy us at the right price.

maybe so but he does kind of have other priorities doesnt he. like making sure his country has a future once the fossil fuels run out...

we are a sound investment to the right buyer we have a lot of scope for investment to upgrade - stadium and team PLUS we have the most glorious history of any club in the world's fabourite league. we are now regularly in the latter stages of the CL.

All it takes is for us to win the Prem and get a bigger stadium (says it like its easy ;-)) and then we can boss football incomes.

if we can do this we can simply market our history like crazy and we will literally steal thousands fans from utd, chelsea and arsenal in places like east asia and africa and even the US... oh and those paupers in the middle east if its a dubai link.

thats a very attractive investment for anyone with the clout to pull it off. the yanks think they can pull it off with leverage but are now realising they can't. thats why their valuation is 1 billion but they know they'll have to sell for much less. they are realising its all a dream for them and they can't make it happen.

DIC are being very wise playing the waiting game as every day that passes costs the yanks in terms of populatiry. perhaps hicks is willing to do the player sell off model but even he must be having his doubts.

[CAD]

You really believe this will happen very soon, don't you?

[Lecter]

You really believe this will happen very soon, don't you?

Depends what your definition of "soon" is but yes

[Sadgeek]

Damn right. He want's control knowing Rafa will leave, allowing him to place a yes man. Say goodbye to SG, Torres et al and we will sit uncomfortably in 10th place. Much reduced wage bill allowing Hicks to take cream as the fans continue to turn up.

That is the Hicks model, brand devotion. Winning, what is that?

Makes me just thinking about it

This would work just fine where the fat **** comes from, where you don't get relegated by finishing last. We'd be lucky to stay mid-table which means reduced (if any) income from the asian market, a draw-down of tv monies, little chance of any silverware. The new ground might not even get full attendances, causing further reduction in turnover.

He can't afford to allow this to happen, yet I also cannot see where he is going to get the money to afford to bring in/keep the names needed to drive success season after season.

[CAD]

Depends what your definition of "soon" is but yes

Soon is before summer 2009 in my book

[BillobShaisley]

Somebody somewhere has given Tony Barrett the green light to use Sheikh Mohammed's name..
.
.

Lets hope so, he's a very dangerous man!!

[BillobShaisley]

maybe so but he does kind of have other priorities doesnt he. like making sure his country has a future once the fossil fuels run out...

They have no oil. They run a service economy.

[rage]

They have no oil. They run a service economy.

and very well too

[fah-q]

They have no oil. They run a service economy.

The oil and gas sector provides around a third of the UAE's Gross National Product, thanks to a successful programme in recent years of diversification of the economy, but remains the dominant contributor of Government revenues. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, supervises policy in Abu Dhabi, under the guidance of the Supreme Petroleum Council. Production is handled through joint ventures with consortia of international companies,. ADNOC also owns, on behalf of Government, all of Abu Dhabi's gas reserves. Oil production is around 2 million barrels a day. Gas is increasingly important, both for export, and for meeting local demand, from domestic and industrial consumers and from power generation and water desalination plants. Dubai produces around 240,000 barrels a day of oil and substantial quantities of gas from offshore fields, with a major condensate field onshore, while Saharjah has smaller oil and gas fields. On the East Coast, Fujairah is the third largest bunkering port in the world, although all of the fuel is imported. Downstream development of refineries, petrochemical plants and other related industries is increasingly creating an integrated oil and gas sector, equivalent to that of industrialized nations.

Oil and gas production has been the mainstay of the economy in the UAE and will remain a major revenue earner long into the future, due to the vast hydrocarbon reserves at the country’s disposal. Proven recoverable oil reserves are currently put at 98.2 billion barrels or 9.5 percent of the global crude oil proven reserves. As for natural gas, the proven recoverable reserves are estimated currently at 5.8 billion cubic meters or 4 percent of the world total. This means that the UAE possesses the third largest natural gas reserves in the region and the fourth largest in the world. At the current rate of utilization, and excluding any new discoveries, these reserves will last for over 150 years. The UA E ’s oil production is limited by quotas agreed within the framework of OPE C to 2 million barrels per day (mbd). Production capacity, however, will rise to around 3 mbd in the year 2000. There are plans to boost that level to 3.6 mbd in the year 2005 and 4 mbd in the year 2010. Gas production is being expanded to meet a forecast doubling of demand to 3.7 billion cubic feet per day (bn cfd) by the year 2000. Domestic demand is expected to increase from 813 million cubic feet per day (mn cfd) in 1996 to 1.137 bn cfd by the year 2000, while gas used for reinjection is projected to double to 1.8 bn cfd. The value of oil exports dropped from Dh 49.1 billion in 1997 to Dh 35.7 billion in 1998 (-27.3 per cent) due to the deterioration in oil prices which fell by 34 per cent during 1998 compared with 1997 levels, to reach US $12.4 a barrel. The value of liquefied gas exports also dropped from Dh 8.5 billion in 1997 to Dh 6.5 billion in 1998, due to the fall in its prices which are closely linked with oil prices and owing to the fact that the value of gas exports in 1997 included a one-time payment of Dh 1.5 billion made to ADGAS by its main importer Tokyo Electricity Power Company. The UAE exports 62 per cent of its crude oil to Japan making it the UAE’s largest customer. Gas exports are almost entirely to Japan, the world's largest buyer of liquefied gas, with the UAE supplying almost one-eighth of Japan's entire requirements.

[fah-q]

Dubai Joins Dolphin

The Dubai Government also joined the multi-billion dollar Dolphin initiative with the signing of a memorandum with the UOG where by the Dubai Supply Authority (DSA) agreed to purchase its requirements for Qatari gas from Dolphin. Under the terms of the agreement, Dubai plans to purchase gas in the amount of 200–700 mn cfd. The Dubai Government and the UOG also agreed to cooperate in identifying and maximizing opportunities for investment arising out of the supply of gas. The Dolphin gas will bridge the gap between energy supply and demand which will develop over the next five years as Dubai’s economy expands.

Dubai

Dubai’s oil reserves have reduced over the past decade and are now expected to be exhausted within 20 years. The main fields are offshore: Fateh, Southwest Fateh and two smaller fields, Falah and Rashid. The only onshore deposit is the Margham field. Dubai Petroleum Company (DPC) is the main operator. Dubai has a 2 per cent share of the UAE's gas reserves. Dubai’s Margham gas/condensate field can deliver up to 140 mn cfd for domestic use and offshore fields can provide another 100 mn cfd. Sharjah also supplies Dubai with 430 mn cfd through a pipeline installed in 1992. The state-owned Dubai Natural Gas Company (DUGAS) is responsible for processing natural gas produced in Dubai’s offshore oil fields as well as the gas piped from Sharjah.

[fah-q]

By Matthew Knight for CNN
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(CNN) -- In the early 1960's oil was discovered 75 miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates transforming the economy of Dubai and its six neighboring federated states.

When the price of oil soared in the 1970's, the country quickly became one of the wealthiest nations on earth and laid the foundations for Dubai's astonishing modern building program.

It is not only what is being created in Dubai, but the speed and the scale of it.

Dubbed "Mushroom City," it is the fastest growing urban center on Earth and currently has, it is estimated, one fifth of all the world's cranes splattered across its skyline.

Spending for present and future buildings is said to be a mind-boggling $100 billion.

Already open to the public is a 400 meter indoor ski slope, the biggest shopping mall in the world and the Burj al-Arab, the world's tallest hotel (remember Tiger Woods teeing off from the helipad?), which claims to be the first "seven-star hotel".

Crowning glory
Twenty miles southwest of Dubai city is Jebel Ali port, the largest man-made harbor ever built and the largest in the Middle East.

Under construction is a $500 million underwater hotel, the world's largest retail development and the cloud-scratching Burj Dubai, which at over 800 meters tall will comfortably be the world's tallest building when finished in 2008.

But the crowning glory of Dubai's building program and the reason for its modern wonder status is undoubtedly its offshore Palm and World Islands development -- the largest land reclamation project the world has ever seen.

Work on the first of three Palm Islands (Jumeirah) began in 2001. A team of Dutch engineers were employed to create the Palm by using a technique called rainbowing -- a vessel dredging sand from the seabed and spraying and piling it onto the desired area and into the requested shape.

On creation of the land, a team of 7,000 construction workers then set about building the exclusive hotels and apartments that line the trunk and fronds of the Palm.

This process is being repeated for the Palm Jebel Ali, which will be 50 per cent bigger than Jumeirah and cater to the population's entertainment needs, featuring a "Sea Village" and six marinas.

When it is completed, the final island Palm Deira, will cover a greater landmass than Manhattan with 41 fronds providing a range of luxury housing, whilst the trunk will provide residents with sports, shopping, bar and club facilities.

"The World" is perhaps the most audacious project being built in Dubai at the moment. With real estate brochures offering clients the chance "to buy the World" the reclaimed land will consist of 300 islands in eight archipelagos, which will depict the eight continents of the world.

Using 25 million tonnes of rock and 200 million cubic meters of sand the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum hopes to create the ultimate and most exclusive millionaire's playground.

"To see a world in a grain of sand", the poet William Blake once wrote. Dubai is turning that philosophical musing into a concrete reality.