Enoc Eyes Oil Storage Growth Beyond Mideast :: Dow Jones

Quote (emphasis added):

"We (should be) going international in a big way. We can't stay still - we're different from the others," said Hussain Sultan, chief executive of the United Arab Emirate company also known as Enoc.

"Although we're a national oil company, we do not control any of the hydrocarbon resources of our state," he told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview Wednesday. "We get no financial support from the government of Dubai. We have to raise our own capital...so we have to work harder, I think."

Dubai-based Enoc took its first steps into oil storage outside the Middle East only two-and-a-half years ago, when it set up Horizon Terminals Ltd. The wholly owned unit is now pouring money into a major storage facility in Singapore, scheduled to be commissioned in the third quarter of next year.

Some readers may be surprised to learn that Enoc has no oil resources of its own. It's something else that surprises me.

Question of the Day: What does it mean to be a national oil company if you receive no support from the government? Without it, how do you sell petrol at retail in the UAE for less than the world price of petrol and stay financially solvent?

I need some help on this one. I'm missing some key part of the story.