The Middle East

The Middle East will be described in chapter 7.6.2. The Arabian countries Jordan, Iraq, Sudan and the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Bahrain, Quatar, Kuwait, Osman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arabic Emirates have founded the Arabian Standardisation and Metrology Organisation (ASMO). Naturally Israel is no member. 

The third major block is the Ear East with many large countries which are becoming more and more important for the world wide economy. Japan, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand will be described briefly, always under the aspect of food additives and flavouring regulations. 

With the exception of Israel all countries are Arabian speaking countries. They also have the Muslim religion in common. Muslim dietary laws are based on the Quran, see chapter 7.8. 

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The resulting vapor phase is called associated gas and the liquid phase is said to be the crude oil. The production of gas is generally considered to be unavoidable because only a small portion is economically recoverable for sale, and yet the quantity produced is relatively high. The reservoirs in the Middle East are estimated to produce 0.14 ton of associated gas per ton of crude. 

With a few exceptions reservoir rocks are sediments. The two main categories are siliciclastic rocks, usually referred to as elastics or sandstones , and carbonate rocks. Most reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea are contained in a clastic depositional environment many of the giant fields of the Middle East are contained in carbonate rocks. Before looking at the significance of depositional environments for the production process let us investigate some of the main characteristics of both categories. 

There are currently more than 6,500 oil and gas installations located on the continental shelves of some 53 countries. About 4,000 of these are in the US Gulf of Mexico, 950 in Asia, 700 in the Middle East and 400 in Europe. 

White wheat (WW) is a preferred wheat for noodles, flat breads, and bakery products other than loaf bread. WW, which includes both fall- and spring-seeded varieties, is grown mainly in the Pacific Northwest. This low protein wheat, usually about 10%, comprises about 15% of U.S. wheat exports, destined primarily for East Asia and the Middle East. Subclasses include hard white, soft white, western white, and white club. 

Gum tragacanth is obtained from the large tap root and branches of a small perennial shmb found in the Middle East, especially Iran. Chemically, it is a mixture of water-insoluble polysaccharides. It is stable to heat, acidity, and aging, and is used extensively in pourable low calorie salad dressings. 

Gum Arabic. Gum arabic [9000-01-5] is an exudate of the Acacia tree, found in the Middle East. It dissolves readily in water to produce low viscosity solutions. It is used in confectionery products, bakery toppings, beverages, fro2en dairy products, and dry drink mixes (86). 

There are large concentrations of proven reserves ia specific areas of the globe such as the Middle East, North America, and the Confederation of Independent States. Thus the future of natural gas, worldwide, is dependent on the flow of natural gas across international boundaries on a long-term basis. This future is also dependent on the maintenance of an economic balance between the price of oil and the price of natural gas. 

Paint is one of the most common and widely used materials in home and building constmction and decoration (see Building materials). Its broad use comes from its abiHty to provide not only improved appearance and decoration but also protection of a substrate to which it is appHed. Evidence of the historical uses of paint goes back over 25,000 years to cave paintings found in Europe. The Bible describes pitch being used to coat and protect Noah s Ark. Over 10,000 years ago in the Middle East, various minerals and metals such as lime, siHca, copper and iron oxides, and chalk were mixed and reacted to produce many colors. Resins from plant sap and casein were also used. Over 2000 years ago in Asia, resins refined from insect secretions and sap from trees were used to make clear lacquers and varnishes (2). 

By far the largest known concentrations of conventional petroleum reserves are in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait (Table 1). The largest concentration of reserves is in the Burgan field (10.2 x 10 (64.2 x 10 bbl)) in Kuwait (10), which... 

Historically, the world s petroleum production pattern can be related to geologic, economic, and pohtical factors. In the past, many countries have had large excesses in production capacity, whereas in the 1990s, only countries in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates, have, in the short mn, enough excess capacity to expand production of conventional cmde petroleum in any significant manner. In the Middle East, production of petroleum is over five times the region s consumption (see Table 4). On a much smaller scale, Africa produces far more petroleum than it consumes (3.4 times). 

Perhaps the most striking feature shown in Table 4 is the large imbalance between regional production and consumption in the Middle East as compared to OECD Europe. In 1992, the Middle East produced five times more cmde petroleum than it consumed, and OECD Europe consumed about three times more cmde petroleum than it produced that is, in 1992, the Middle East exported about 81% of its production of cmde petroleum, whereas OECD Europe imported about 66% of the cmde petroleum that it consumed. In the Asia/AustraUa region, 2419 x 10 m /d (15.2 x 10 bbl/d), or 23.3% of the world s total, was consumed in 1992. In the United States, production of cmde petroleum peaked in 1971 and has declined since then so that only 54.5% of the U.S. cmde petroleum consumed in 1992 was produced domestically. In Latin America, production of cmde petroleum stood at about 150% of consumption, whereas in 1978, production and consumption were about equal. 

Only three dalbaheptides are commercialized vancomycin (39) and teicoplanin (18—22) for human health, and avoparcin (63—65) for animal usage. Vancomycin, the main trademark of which is EH Lilly s Vancocin had 1990 sales around 160 million. Total annual production is in the vicinity of 8 t. Teicoplanin, trademarked Targocid, had 1990 sales of 35 million corresponding to 200 kg. Teicoplanin is commercialized in Europe, Hong Kong, Korea, and the Middle East. It is at the late developmental clinical phase in North America and Japan. Avoparcin is used as a growth promoting feed additive (see... 

In the industrial arena, the term power generation most typically refers to the production of electrical or mechanical power via any of several energy conversion processes. Early examples of practical power generation devices include water-wheel-powered mills for grinding grain, which were reportedly used as early as 100 BC in the Balkans and areas of the Middle East, and wind-powered mills, which were widely used as early as the tenth century in the Middle East. 

Commercial and Artificial Processing. Commercially, silkworm cocoons are extracted in hot soapy water to remove the sticky sericin protein. The remaining fibroin or stmctural sdk is reeled onto spools, yielding approximately 300—1200 m of usable thread per cocoon. These threads can be dyed or modified for textile appUcations. Production levels of sdk textiles in 1992 were 67,000 metric tons worldwide. The highest levels were in China, at 30,000 t, foUowed byJapan, at 17,000 t, and other Asian and Oceanian countries, at 14,000 t (24). Less than 3000 metric tons are produced annually in each of eastern Europe, western Europe, and Latin America almost no production exists in North America, the Middle East, or Africa. 1993 projections were for a continued worldwide increase in sdk textile production to 75,000 metric tons by 1997 and 90,000 metric tons by 2002 (24). 

World demand is 22 x 10 tons (49 x 10 lb) in 1995, with the growth accelerating (Fig. 11). Per-capita demand for PVC is high in Canada, United States, Japan, and Western Europe, and shows lots of room for growth in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Mexico, South America, and Eastern Europe (Fig. 12). 

The iaterrelatioaship of nonalkaline scales (CaSO, CaSO /2H2O, CaSO 2H20) depeads oa temperature and the concentration of CaSO. To assure that no hemihydrate scale forms, MSF operators must mn their plants ia such a manner as to assure that the coaceatratioa of the total dissolved sohds does aot exceed 70,000 ppm at temperatures of 120°C. With average-salinity seawater, plants can operate at a concentration factor of 2, but in the Middle East where water salinity can be as high as 50,000 ppm, the concentration factor should not exceed 1.4. Under no circumstances should the total dissolved soHds exceed 70,000 ppm, ie, twice the concentration of normal seawater at 120°C. 

In 1912, however, (201) it was discovered that espundia (American mucocutaneous leishmaniasis) can be cured by tartar emetic. It was soon learned that kala-a2ar (visceral leishmaniasis) and oriental sore (a cutaneous form of the disease occurring in the Middle East) also respond to antimonial therapy, especially when compounds of pentavalent antimony are employed. Treatment of leishmaniasis with the latter type of antimonials is safe and effective in over 90% of the cases (202). In 1918, it was demonstrated that tartar emetic is of value in the treatment of schistosomiasis (203). Pentavalent antimonials proved to be less effective. The introduction of antimony compounds for the treatment of parasitic diseases is undoubtedly one of the important milestones in the history of therapeutics (see Antiparasitic agents). 

The word alcohol, like alchemy, has its origins in the Middle East. The Arabs are said to have made cosmetic paints by heating and vaporizing a mixture of compounds. The residue was used to paint eyeUds and called "kohl." When they later heated wines, they gave the product the same name as the cosmetic "kohl" or "al kohl." The word whiskey is said to be derived from the Celtic "uisge baugh" or "water of life."... 

World carbon black rated capacities are shown in Table 14. North America has the largest capacity. Europe, Southeast Asia, and Russia/Eastem Europe have about equal capacities and Africa and the Middle East have only small production. The growth areas are predicted to be Southeast Asia and the Russia/Eastem Europe markets. The capacities for certain areas such as China and Russia/Eastem Europe should be taken as rough estimates. 

The earliest method for manufacturiag carbon disulfide involved synthesis from the elements by reaction of sulfur and carbon as hardwood charcoal in externally heated retorts. Safety concerns, short Hves of the retorts, and low production capacities led to the development of an electric furnace process, also based on reaction of sulfur and charcoal. The commercial use of hydrocarbons as the source of carbon was developed in the 1950s, and it was still the predominate process worldwide in 1991. That route, using methane and sulfur as the feedstock, provides high capacity in an economical, continuous unit. Retort and electric furnace processes are stiU used in locations where methane is unavailable or where small plants are economically viable, for example in certain parts of Africa, China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Other technologies for synthesis of carbon disulfide have been advocated, but none has reached commercial significance. 

Fuels. Two-thirds of the fuel used by the United States chemical industry in 1988 was natural gas [8006-14-2] which is clean and easy to combust (see Gas, natural). Although relatively inexpensive at the wellhead, natural gas is cosdy to transport. Hence the chemical industry is concentrated in regions where natural gas is produced, keeping the average price paid by the U.S. chemical industry for natural gas in 1988 to only 80% of the average U.S. industrial price (1). Similarly the movement of chemical commodity production to the Middle East is driven by the desire to obtain low cost natural gas. 

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