The UAE’s April oil output stood at 2.70 million barrels per day (bpd), unchanged from March, according to latest figures from the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).
The IEA, which advises 28 industrialised countries on energy policy. said the UAE’s sustainable oil production capacity was 2.9 million bpd. The country’s average crude supply for the first quarter this year was 2.67 million bpd, it added.
Officials at the UAE’s Ministry of Energy were not available to comment on the IEA’s figures.
Abu Dhabi accounts for more than 90 per cent of the UAE’s crude oil output, the bulk of which is exported.
The UAE intends to increase its oil production capacity to 3.5 million bpd by 2018 to meet the rising global oil demand.
Offshore fields
The Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco), which is majority-owned by the emirate’s oil producer, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), plans to invest at least $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) developing two offshore fields to boost the firm’s crude output by 60 per cent by 2017.
As per the plan, Adnoc will spend $40 billion (Dh147 billion) on crude, natural gas, petrochemical and refinery projects from 2010 through 2014. Gas projects under construction account for $25 billion of that.
Abu Dhabi aims to start producing about 500 million cubic feet a day of sour gas in 2014 from a $10 billion venture with Occidental Petroleum Corp at its onshore Shah field. The Shah field is located 210 kilometres south-west of the capital.
