The Hindu Business Line : Abu Dhabi oil co draws aggressive expansion plans

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is pressing ahead with an aggressive plan to implement development projects within the next 10 years, with an annual expenditure of $2-3 billion, said the company's top official.

Mr Yousif Omair bin Yousif, Secretary-General of the Supreme Petroleum Council and Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC, said it was getting aggressive on setting up new subsidiaries, the official Emirates news agency, WAM, said.

Mr bin Yousif underlined the rising demand for gas in the UAE due to the growing industrial and petrochemical activities and the increasing need for offshore re-injection to enhance oil recovery.

He, however, affirmed that enough quantities of gas are already in place for use in petrochemicals and condensates production. "Today, the company manages and oversees oil production of more than 2.5 million barrels a day and total gas production in the region of 6.5 billion SCFPD, ranking it among the top 10 oil and gas companies in the world."

"The import of gas from Qatar's North field, scheduled to begin by late 2006 or early 2007 shows the importance of co-operation between UAE and GCC companies," added Mr bin Yousif.

Diversification

On petrochemicals, Mr bin Yousif said as part of its diversification strategy in the downstream sector, ADNOC embarked on investing in the petrochemical industry in 1980 with the incorporation of Ruwais Fertiliser Industries (Fertil) as a joint venture between ADNOC and Total SA. Its yearly exports currently stand at 1 lakh tonnes per annum (KTA) of liquid ammonia, and more than 6.25 lakh tonnes per annum of urea (bulk and bagged).

According to him, a de-bottlenecking project is in hand now to convert the entire surplus ammonia to urea and delivering the feedstock for the new $200 million melamine industry that is to be launched as a joint venture with an Austrian firm. There are also plans for a granulation plant to produce granulated urea.ADNOC is also envisaging building of an "Innovation Centre" in Abu Dhabi to transfer technology.

This may form the nucleus for future research and development activities in the polyolefins production and marketing. ADNOC plans to target South Asia for marketing its petro-chemical-based products, the official added.

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