CAPITAL: Abu Dhabi
MONETARY UNIT: Dirham
REFINING CAPACITY: 287,800 b/d
OIL PRODUCTION: 2.25 million b/d
OIL RESERVES: 97.8 billion bbl
GAS RESERVES: 201.8 tcf
Abu Dhabi and Dubai in February 1998 signed a long-awaited cooperation agreement under which Abu Dhabi would supply Dubai with natural gas to meet all its requirements.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) said it would proceed with plans to expand gas production from the Khuff reservoir underlying Abu Al Bukoosh oil field, which along with Tawilah field would be depleted under an offshore gas development program.
The project was intended to produce 540 MMcfd of gas, though Adnoc left the option open to raise the project capacity at some time in the future to 950 MMcfd.
Abu Dhabi offered to supply Dubai with an assured baseload of 500 MMcfd of gas from the offshore gas development. Dubai was considering a number of other offers, including one by a group led by ARCO to deliver up to 800 MMcfd of gas through a pipeline to be build from Qatar`s North field.
The ARCO group said the deal between Abu Dhabi and Dubai would not affect its own plans to negotiate for delivery of Qatari gas to Dubai. It was not expected that Dubai would require gas from both sources until well after 2005.
GAS grid
In May Sharjah Power & Water Authority began work on a $70 million gas distribution grid with a view to exploiting the emirate`s large natural gas reserves.
The first phase of construction was expected to take 2 years and cost $40 million and serve 25,000 consumers. Sharjah has more than 40% of the U.A.E.`s industry, and its electric power demand is increasing.
In November the Borouge joint venture of Adnoc and Borealis AS, Copenhagen, let contract for an undisclosed sum to Alliance Bechtel Linde, a joint venture of Linde AG, Hoellriegelskreuth, Germany, and Eastern Bechtel Co. Ltd., Houston, to build an ethylene cracker.
The plant was to be built at Borouge`s Ruwais petrochemicals complex in Abu Dhabi for completion in 2001. The plant was intended to produce up to 600,000 tons/year of ethylene from ethane feedstock supplied by Adnoc. Its output would in turn feed two polyethylene plants at the site and a planned ethylene dichloride plant. Borouge expected to let a contract in 1999 to build two polyethylene plants at Ruwais, each with 225,000 tons/year of production capacity.
ThatsamemonthAdnocalso announcedamajorrestructuring intended to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
All the operations currently supervised by Adnoc would be grouped into five autonomous business units called directorates.
These were intended to focus on exploration and production, gas processing, chemicals, refining and marketing, and shared services such as project management, supplies, information technology, and ports management.
