Having visited Dubai a couple of times I'm somewhat familiar with the city.I think I recall that Dubai,specifically,doesn't have a lot of oil while one or two of the other emirates of the UAE have a good deal of oil.Dubai today is a financial center,an oasis of calm in a dangerous part of the world and a playground for rich princes from Saudi,Kuwait,Qatar and surrounding areas.It's also a destination for westerners as well.It's an amazing city and has far more construction cranes than I saw in London or Dublin during their booming years last decade...just before the crash.
Never been there but I’ve read it was built with indentured servants and slave labor from Asia. It’s also know for sex trafficking for the wealthy. Sounds like an exotically creepy place.