ABP Ramadan Activities
Lecture by Professor Ibrahim Oweiss
On Tuesday, September 27, the Academic Bridge Program of Qatar Foundation hosted a guest lecture by Professor Ibrahim Oweiss, international economic advisor and oil economy expert, who famously coined the term "petrodollars" more than 30 years ago.
Ibrahim M. Oweiss, an Egyptian-born American economist, has authored over 50 publications, including Petrodollar Surpluses, Arab Civilization and The Political Economy of Contemporary Egypt. Since 1967, he has been on the faculty of economics at Georgetown University. He has taught generations of students, lecturing on oil industry, international trade, international affairs, economics of the Middle East and many other topics. Professor Oweiss has held prestigious positions in the Egyptian government and worked for several multinational oil corporations.
He is now Professor of Economics, Georgetown University and is based in the university's branch in Qatar.
The lecture, entitled "The Invisible Hand and the Price of Oil," concerned the interaction of supply and demand in the oil market, and the rising cost of oil due to the shrinking resources and growing consumption, particularly in fast-developing countries like China and India. Professor Oweiss also discussed future technological developments in the energy industry and stressed the need to look for alternative energy sources.
According to the speaker, "in the short term, the price of oil will continue to rise for a year or two, but in the long run it will fall." Higher oil prices will bring about a decline in demand as consumers, unable to afford to buy petroleum products at the same pace, will begin to change their consumption patters. An increase in further oil exploration and an intensified search for new solutions to the energy problem will follow, which will in turn result in the oil price decrease. These fluctuations are explained by the Oweiss Demand Curve, first presented at Oxford University in 1982.
He also pointed out that at the present rate of oil production the valuable resource is going to be exhausted in 40 years' time. "The answer lies in technology," said Professor Oweiss.
The address was the first in the University Lecture series -- a course designed to prepare the Academic Bridge Program students for the intellectual challenges of western colleges where most of them plan to study. The course is conducted by the ABP faculty in cooperation with renowned professors from Education City universities (Georgetown, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Virginia Commonwealth and Texas A&M).
THE ACADEMIC BRIDGE PROGRAM was founded in 2001 as a post-secondary program to equip top-caliber secondary school graduates in Qatar and the Gulf region for admission to and success in degree programs at the universities of Education City and other world-class educational institutions.
THE QATAR FOUNDATION for Education, Science and Community Development, founded in 1995, is a private, nonprofit, chartered organization committed to the principle that a nation's greatest resource is its people. Qatar Foundation is headquartered in a unique Education City, which hosts numerous learning institutions and research centers, including branch campuses of five of the world's leading universities. For more information, please visit www.qf.org.qa.
