The United Arab Emirates, a leading OPEC producer, announced “significant” oil and gas discoveries and introduced a new pricing mechanism for Abu Dhabi flagship Murban crude.
The UAE’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) said the discoveries included 7 billion barrels of crude oil and 58 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
That raised UAE crude oil reserves to 105 billion barrels, overtaking Kuwait for the world’s sixth-largest oil deposits, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said in a statement.
Natural gas reserves were boosted to 273 trillion cubic feet, ADNOC said. In addition, the UAE discovered about 160 trillion cubic feet of unconventional natural gas.
The UAE pumps about 3 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) and produces 10.5 billion cubic feet of raw natural gas, ADNOC said.
“We are very pleased and honored to have enabled the UAE to move from the seventh- to the sixth-largest oil and gas reserves in both global rankings,” said ADNOC CEO Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber.
Oil reserves refer to crude that’s economically feasible to extract. Figures can vary widely by country due to differing standards, though it remains a yardstick of comparison among oil-producing nations.
The SPC also gave approval to the listing of ADNOC’s Murban crude oil on an internationally recognized exchange to boost the Emirates’ position as an energy provider, particularly to fast-growing Asian markets.
“The initiative will enable our customers and other market participants to better price, manage and trade their purchases of Murban,” which pumps some 1.7 million bpd, Jaber said.
Last year, ADNOC granted concession rights in existing and new oilfields and earmarked some $132 billion to invest in the oil sector over the next five years. ADNOC plans to boost crude output capacity to 4 million bpd in 2020 and to 5 million bpd a decade later.
The Arab Weekly
05/11/2019
