Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) has awarded Dh3 billion (US$818 million) of contracts for a project to extract an extra 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas from some of its long-standing oil and gas developments.
It plans to award a further $2bn worth of contracts this year to help raise its capacity to pump crude from three oilfields.
The Bab Gas Compression Project in Abu Dhabi is showing how advanced technology to improve recovery from mature oil and gas fields can be as effective in unlocking reserves as making new discoveries.
The volume of extra gas that ADCO will produce between 2012 and 2030 is bigger than the reserves of the largest gasfields found in the North Sea in recent years.
"This project is of a strategic nature because it adds to the security of gas supplies to the UAE," said Abdul Munim al Kindy, the general manager of ADCO. "This is gas that would not be recovered otherwise."
ADCO, which is a unit of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), is primarily responsible for onshore oil production in Abu Dhabi, but also produces gas from its oilfields and some gasfields in the emirate.
The company reinjects much of its 5.3 billion cubic feet a day of gas production into mature oilfields, in order to squeeze out more oil.
ADCO said the extra gas from the Bab reservoirs would be sent to an ADNOC processing plant at Habshan, the site of Abu Dhabi's biggest onshore oilfields.
The UAE has the world's 10th biggest gas reserves but like most Gulf oil producers it is short of gas supplies for power plants, industrial developments and its oil sector. The country imports about a third of the gas it uses from Qatar.
ADCO yesterday awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract to South Korea Engineering and Construction, and a related contract for supplying gas compressors to a German maker, Man Turbo.
The gas compression work is the Korean firm's first in Abu Dhabi.
ADCO re-tendered the project last year after the lowest bid it received was for $1.5bn, Mr al Kindy said.
While the gas project will help ADCO extend the life of its oilfields, the company is also seeking to raise its capacity to pump crude by nearly 30 per cent over the next seven years to 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), from 1.4m bpd now.
Mr al Kindy said work on another three oilfields, for which $3.5bn of contracts were awarded this year, would boost ADCO's production capacity by 200,000 bpd in three to four years' time, or by half the total increase sought.
A drop of about 50 per cent in construction costs in recent months as the global recession has cut demand for most commodities has made ADCO's capacity target more affordable.
"Definitely, the (falling) cost of construction has had a positive impact," Mr al Kindy said. "Bids have become cheap, resulting in big savings for us."
So far this year, ADCO's savings from re-tendering projects it considered too expensive have exceeded $1.6bn.
The company, which is 40 per cent owned by foreign firms and pumps about half of ADNOC's total crude output, has stressed its commitment to costly capacity expansions, despite the global recession, falling oil demand and concerns about the looming expiry of its foreign partners' concessions.
tcarlisle@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Scoreline
UAE 2-1 Saudi Arabia
UAE Mabkhout 21’, Khalil 59’
Saudi Al Abed (pen) 20’
Man of the match Ahmed Khalil (UAE)
Paltan
Producer: JP Films, Zee Studios
Director: JP Dutta
Cast: Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood, Arjun Rampal, Siddhanth Kapoor, Luv Sinha and Harshvardhan Rane
Rating: 2/5
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Company%20Profile
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SQUADS
India
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur
New Zealand
Kane Williamson (captain), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Henry Nicholls, Ish Sodhi, George Worker, Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Cagliari v AC Milan (6pm)
Lazio v Napoli (9pm)
Inter Milan v Atalanta (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Sampdoria v Brescia (6pm)
Fiorentina v SPAL (6pm)
Torino v Bologna (6pm)
Verona v Genoa (9pm)
Roma V Juventus (11.45pm)
Parma v Lecce (11.45pm)
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner AF Nashrah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Mutaqadim, Riccardo Iacopini, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Jose Santiago, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner AF Almomayaz, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dalil Al Carrere, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Jayide Al Boraq, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
Scoreline
Man Utd 2 Pogba 27', Martial 49'
Everton 1 Sigurdsson 77'
Spider-Man%202
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.