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MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Abu Dhabi announces major new finds

UAE ABU Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council plan would enable ADNOC to “drive upstream
(SPC) this week announced new conventional growth, progress downstream expansion and
and unconventional oil discoveries while giv- further strengthen the company’s marketing
ing its approval to Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s and trading capabilities to ensure it maintains its
(ADNOC) 2021-25 capital expenditure budget. competitiveness and industry leadership posi-
The new finds were stated at 22bn stock tank tion over the next fifty years”.
barrels of unconventional oil and 2bn barrels of With that in mind, Sheikh Mohamed bin
conventional resources. Without providing the Zayed has tasked the company to “explore poten-
location of the unconventional discovery, the tial opportunities in hydrogen with the ambition
SPC said that it was located in an onshore explo- to position the UAE as a hydrogen leader” by
ration area that covers 25,000 square km. leaning on existing infrastructure in much the
In a statement, the council said that the pro- same way as its neighbour Saudi Arabia is doing.
duction potential of the discovery “ranks along- The announcement also made note of the
side the most prolific North American shale oil development of the downstream hub at Ruwais,
plays”. It added that following the conventional which is already the heart of the UAE’s down-
discovery the Emirates’ oil reserve base now stream industry, hosting the region’s largest oil
stands at 107bn barrels, from which it currently refinery.
produces 4mn barrels per day (bpd). His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber,
The SPC said: “This increase in reserves is a the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced
result of the ongoing maturation of ADNOC’s Technology and ADNOC Group CEO, said:
developments towards its 5mn bpd oil produc- “We are developing large-scale capital projects
tion capacity target by 2030, and its appraisal in Ruwais to further stretch the margin from
activities, particularly in the Al Nouf field.” each barrel of oil we produce as we deliver on
Meanwhile, plans were also approved for our downstream expansion strategy – at the
ADNOC to award exploration blocks included in heart of which are our plans to develop Ruwais
the second licensing round, which was launched into a dynamic, global hub for the UAE’s indus-
in 2019. ADNOC’s capex budget covers spend- trial growth and economic diversification – and
ing of $122bn over the four-year period, from we are strengthening our marketing, supply and
which it expects to drive $43.6bn into the local trading capabilities to unlock greater value from
economy. In its statement, the SPC said that the our products.”™

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