VIDEO: UAE ranks sixth globally in oil and gas reserves
- 05 Nov 2019
Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC), launched, on Monday, a new pricing mechanism for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s (ADNOC), flagship onshore crude oil, Murban, and announced a significant increase in oil and gas reserves and new discoveries in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, at its meeting held at ADNOC’s headquarters.
The SPC meeting was presided over by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Vice-Chairman of the SPC.
At the meeting, the SPC also announced increases in hydrocarbon reserves of 7 billion STB of oil and 58 TSCF of conventional gas, moving the UAE from seventh to the sixth position in both global oil and gas reserves ranking with a total of 105 billion STB of recoverable oil and 273 trillion SCF of conventional gas.
These significant additions to the UAE’s hydrocarbon reserves mark an historic milestone for the country since the last major update of its reserves base three decades ago and underpin its position as a stable and long-term energy provider to the world.
The Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) said the new discoveries included seven billion barrels of crude oil and 58 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to AFP.
In addition, the SPC announced the discovery of unconventional recoverable gas resources totalling 160 TSCF; a first for the region, ushering in a new era of large scale unconventional hydrocarbon resources development.
The increase in reserves and new discoveries follows ADNOC’s extensive drilling of dozens of new exploration and appraisal wells across Abu Dhabi’s conventional and unconventional oil and gas fields over the past few years.
In addition, the start of production in new fields, for example, SARB, Umm Lulu, Haliba, and Bu Haseer, has enabled ADNOC to verify and further upgrade the originally expected reserves’ volumes.
Equally, the ongoing maturation of ADNOC’s field development plans towards its 5 million barrels per day (mmbpd) oil production capacity target by 2030, and expanded oil recovery schemes, as well as ongoing in-fill drilling, have provided the base for an increase in ADNOC’s reserves.
The unconventional and conventional gas discoveries and increase in reserves follow the approval last year by the SPC of ADNOC’s integrated gas strategy that will allow ADNOC, commercially and holistically, to unlock Abu Dhabi’s abundant gas resources to enable the UAE to achieve gas self-sufficiency and potentially transition to a net gas exporter.
During the meeting, Sheikh Mohamed conveyed the encouragement and support of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa B2in Zayed Al Nahyan, as ADNOC continues to harness energy resources to create long-term and sustainable value for the nation.
He commended ADNOC on its strong performance as it delivers its 2030 strategy and highlighted that ADNOC has been able to achieve its operational and financial targets, despite the volatile energy markets, due to its drive to continuously optimise its performance and maximise value from its assets and resources.
Sheikh Mohamed commended ADNOC on its relentless efforts to drive the exploration of Abu Dhabi’s huge hydrocarbon resources which resulted in the historic achievement of significantly increasing its oil and gas reserves, and elevated the UAE from the seventh to the sixth position in both global oil and gas reserves rankings.
He noted this achievement reinforces the important role the UAE plays and will continue to play in ensuring the security of energy supplies to global customers.
He also commended the strategic and historic decision to list ADNOC’s Murban crude oil on an internationally recognised exchange, noting it will provide the markets with greater confidence and solidify Abu Dhabi’s position as a global energy hub and an essential energy provider to the world, particularly the fast-growing markets in Asia.
ADNOC will engage with its customers and other stakeholders over the coming months regarding the implementation of its new Murban Crude forward pricing mechanism, which will see it move from a retroactive official selling price,OSP, to market-driven, transparent, forward pricing. The company expects to implement its new Murban Crude forward pricing mechanism between the second and third quarters of 2020.
