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If you work in Houston, there’s a good chance it's for a company that has something to do with the oil industry.

And if your company doesn’t, your neighbor’s probably does.

But are those jobs in jeopardy because of a rising new player in the world-wide oil business?

AP

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Cities compete for a lot of things, like who gets to host the Olympics.

But now Houston is in a contest to keep a title it won decades ago: world capital of the oil industry.

This is the city poised to possibly knock Houston from its petroleum pedestal: Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

“They have this Mall of the Emirates, which makes the Galleria look like its a tiny strip mall,” energy expert Amy Jaffe said.

Jaffe said the threat could be real.

“Dubai is absolutely a serious venture," she said.

Dubai is fast becoming the fun place to do oil business in a part of the world known better for intolerance and terrorism, and Houston companies are headed there.

Foremost among them, Halliburton announcing its moving its top executives to Dubai.

Is Halliburton only the beginning? A number of Houston companies are moving key people to Dubai. It's a sign the energy industry is changing, but is it the end of Houston’s dominance?

Stuart Schaffer works for a big law firm called Baker Botts.

It never sees a day when Houston isn’t its main office, but an increasing number of its lawyers are now living full-time in Dubai.

Like Steve Matthews. He spoke to 11 News via videophone from Dubai.

11 News: "Do you run into a lot of attorneys from Houston there?"

Matthews: "Increasingly."

Attorneys, accountants, oil executives, engineers and even medical professionals from Houston are now working in Dubai.

And so are thousands from all over the world.

A diverse, vibrant beach-front city whose skyline is even newer than Houston’s and all in the center of the oil-rich Middle East.

Has Houston been bested?

“It's the biggest bunch of baloney I’ve ever heard," Matthew Simmons said.

Simmons is one of the world’s leading oil experts based in Houston, a nd he has no plans to move.

“I’ve only been to Dubai one time," he said. “Houston for energy is like Hollywood is to the entertainment business. Doesn’t mean many films are made in Hollywood anymore. In fact, they’re not. But are all the decisions made in Hollywood? I think they still are.”

Simmons said Houston shouldn’t worry about Dubai but:

11 News: "What cities or countries are a bigger threat do you think to Houston?"

Simmons: "China without any question.”

He said China has the brainpower to compete.

But other threats may come from much closer to home.

“We’re seeing states like Wyoming win the Federal grants for those projects,” Jaffe said.

Jaffe said Wyoming has done a better job getting federal money for energy research, and California has taken the lead in solar power.

“Houston needs to decide: What is the cutting edge, where do we want to be?" she said.

Crucial decisions if Houston wants to stay on top of the world’s energy business.