A great leap
But Abu Dhabi will not expand LNG exports, shrugs off GTL
By Karen Remo-Listana
Posted: 02 October 2006
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Abu Dhabi is set for a major leap in gas production and processing in coming years, the chief executive of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) said last month.
Yousef Omair bin Yousef, also the Secretary General of Abu Dhabi ˙s Supreme Petroleum Council, re-emphasised that the United Arab Emirates capital is on its way to boosting its current 4.5 billion cubic feet gas capacity to six billion by 2008.
 With proven gas wealth exceeding six trillion cubic metres at the end of 2005, the UAE is the fifth largest gas power in the world and is one of the top LNG producers. Figures from the UAE Ministry of Energy show the country produced a record 65 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2005, an increase of nearly 15 billion over the 50 billion cubic metres produced five years ago.
According to Yousef, Abu Dhabi ˙s gas reserves are estimated at around 200 trillion cubic feet. On oil output, he said Abu Dhabi ˙s capacity is currently 2.9 to three million barrels per day and plans are on tap to lift that to four million bpd in the short term. ´There are plans to go beyond these figures as we are continuously raising production to meet demand.ˇ
´While demand for oil is growing worldwide at 2%, global gas demand is soaring to 6% to 7% annually. And here it is even higher, about 10%,ˇ he said at a during a Press conference in Abu Dhabi .
Partly because of this increasing local demand, Yousef said Abu Dhabi will avoid expanding liquefied natural gas (LNG) export and will not invest in gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology.
´We are among the first and major players in LNG. We will maintain the status quo but avoid expanding our LNG export because we need it for our own economy. We are focusing on what we can do now, and GTL is not part of that. Our projects are mainly focused on oil, gas and chemicals,ˇ he said. The UAE, therefore, joins Saudi Arabia in prioritising local gas demand.
Arab gas exports have soared by nearly 25% over the past five years but the region˙s proven reserves have remained almost unchanged in the absence of major discoveries.
Gas consumption in Saudi Arabia , like in the UAE, is racing ahead at 10% a year. Saudi Aramco figures show that Saudi Arabia ˙s gas demand will account for more than a third of the country˙s total energy consumption, eight years from now.
Qatar recently said it aims to build a sustainable industrial base from its gas assets and won˙t send it all to export markets.
So if it˙s not LNG or GTL, what is Abu Dhabi keen to boost? ´We will rather expand on liquefied petroleum gas from six million tonnes per year to 12 million by 2008,ˇ Yousef said.
Sour gas will also comprise a big chunk of the gas pie. In June, Mohamed Juma Bin Juma, Adnoc˙s E&P onshore manager, was quoted by Pipeline as saying: ´Adnoc is seriously evaluating the development of sour gas reserves in Abu Dhabi .ˇ
So far, no sour has been tapped, Yousef said. ´The major part of Abu Dhabi ˙s gas is sour. So we plan to tap that and export it to the world. This is our main challenge because sour gas is very difficult and dangerous to produce and we should have technology to produce continuously.ˇ |
