Abu Dhabi is spending $40 billion on creating new infrastructure to boost oil and gas output, aside from building new capacities at its refining and petrochemical industries, an official said.
Abu Dhabi currently has investments of $40 billion in crude, natural gas, refining and petrochemical projects, said Mohammed Sahoo Al Suwaidi, the chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi Gas Industries, or Gasco.
He was speaking at a Press conference organised to announce the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, or Adipec, the largest event for the industry in the Middle East, scheduled to take place in November this year. Al Suwaidi said that projects valued at $25 billion were under construction to boost gas output in order to meet domestic demand that is surging at about 15 per cent a year. Gasco's parent company, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, will also open the door for international companies to help develop its capabilities, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Ali Al Jarwan, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company, or Adma-Opco, said that the Abu Dhabi crude oil pipeline – which has connected the oil producing facilities in Habshan with the oil pumping terminals on the coast of Fujairah for exports bypassing the Strait of Hormuz – is expected to be commissioned this month. "The pipeline is complete and will be commissioned this month," Al Jarwan said. "I cannot tell exactly when exports will start flowing from the pipeline… but in August it should be open and operating fully," he added.
The $3.29 billion, 400km pipeline will enable Abu Dhabi to export as much as 70 per cent of its crude from Fujairah, located outside the Arabian Gulf on the Gulf of Oman, where tankers will be able to pick up the oil instead of sailing into the Arabian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is one of the world's busiest tanker routes through which Arabian Gulf oil producers ship their crude exports.
In his speech, Al Jarwan said Adipec has grown in stature, significance and size since 1984 when it was first organised. He said that from next year it will become an annual show. "This growth and demand is unabated. We continue to have a waiting list of exhibitors and require yet more space, and therefore there is a need for an annual platform," he added.
Gasco's Al Suwaidi was appointed as chairman for Adipec 2013. Also present at the Press conference were Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre chief sales and marketing officer Humaid Al Dhaheri, dmg::events Middle East, Asia and Africa president Geoff Dickinson and dmg::events senior vice-president Simon Mellor.
Khaleej Times
4 July
