Inayat-ur-Rahman, Business Editor

Dragon Oil Company launched its new company logo during a large and distinguished ceremony held on Monday in Dubai, in the presence of Chairman of the Board of Directors Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Dragon Oil CEO Ali Al Jarwan, members of the Board of Directors and company employees.

The ceremony was also attended by the CEO of Enoc, Saif Al Falasi, the Ambassador of the State of Turkmenistan to the country, Sardar Mamet Garajev, and the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Energy in Dubai, Ahmed Butti Al Muhairbi, in addition to a large number of dignitaries and company employees. The ceremony reflected the cultures and heritage of the countries in which Dragon Company is present. Oil..

Dragon Oil CEO Ali Rashid Al-Jarwan said, “The story of the company’s logo dates back to 24 years ago when the company was owned by its first owner from the People’s Republic of China, and the old logo symbolized the assets located in Turkmenistan only. In general, the previous logo carries dimensions stemming from the culture of Central Asia and does not have a relationship with the United Arab Emirates in general and the Emirate of Dubai in particular.”

Regarding the developments in the company’s work, Al-Jarwan touched on the company’s development path, which began producing 7,000 barrels per day of oil in the year 2000, while production has currently reached 180,000 barrels per day from three sites distributed in the Republic of Turkmenistan, 60,000 barrels per day, and Egypt, 55,000 barrels in addition to 65 thousand barrels per day from Iraq. The company is ready to develop production, especially in Turkmenistan and Iraq, as the company aspires to reach 250, 000 barrels per day in the natural growth of the oil industry at the end of 2025.

Al-Jarwan added, “Since those years, specifically from May 2000 when the production sharing agreement was signed with the Turkmen government, the previous logo remained, and that until October 9. The reason for the change is that Dragon Oil is no longer present in Turkmenistan only, but rather its operations have expanded to the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of Iraq and also established an exploration company in Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt, and we also committed to exploration contracts. Then the company, unfortunately left these countries due to economic conditions.”

Al Jarwan estimated that the company’s budget, including investments, ranges from $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion annually, which includes public investment to develop the fields of the operational budget and investment in new opportunities.

Al-Jarwan explained that the momentum of the company’s activity in three countries and the aspirations of the company’s board of directors for viable exploratory opportunities in other regions made it necessary for us to change this slogan. The company first conducted a questionnaire among the employees and among the owners, represented by members of the board of directors. At the same time, a public relations expert was brought in to inspect the previous logo. The latter’s opinion was that the previous logo was appropriate for Central Asia or China in particular, and there was no connection between the content of the logo and the United Arab Emirates. Then the members of the Board of Directors were convinced of the opinion and agreed to change the logo.

Al-Jarwan continued, DO presented four models of possible logos to the members of the Board of Directors, and the opinion finally settled on the fourth logo, represented by the letters “D and O,” which is in line with the current official aspirations and at the same time expresses the state of the oil sector.

According to Al-Jarwan, the first letters of the logo mean integration and harmony and encourage the model of cooperation in the oil industry. Likewise, the logo suggests compatibility between all lines of the oil industry, which encourages the company’s crew, its workers and the administrative team to achieve close cooperation between them. The new logo also reflects the logo of the company’s identity as a company. Completely Emirati, with the letter D, an abbreviation for the name of the Emirate of Dubai, and the letter O, meaning oil. In general, the new identity means that we are fully affiliated with the rational government of Dubai.

Al-Jarwan pointed out that the new logo is in line with the efforts required to enhance production and the company’s transformation within the scope of global trends to work on clean energy. And although the demand for conventional oil will remain at least during the next 25 years, we encourage the trend to renewable energy in parallel with the trend. The governments of the world also support this sector, including our wise government in the UAE.

Al-Jarwan re-iterated that DO is keen to reduce emissions and be climate neutral at all stages of its operations, in line with the UAE’s commitment to achieving zero carbon emissions in 2050, stressing that the company will continue to produce oil according to global demand and in a responsible manner that considers the environment and works to reduce gas emissions. He pointed out to the company’s initiatives in Egypt, for example, where production is carried out without burning gas, and in Iraq, where facilities are being built to process gas and make maximum use of liquid and gaseous materials to bring emissions down to zero, and in Turkmenistan we are increasing gas injection and oil production through a process called gas lift. He continued “There are future plans to make the most of gas, and we are working with the government on that.”

DO strategy aims to reach 300,000 barrels per day by the end of 2026, which is currently missing 50,000, which will be brought in by acquiring new production ranging between 40 to 50,000 barrels per day and allocating an amount of $500 million for that according to the economic feasibility assessment.

Al-Jarwan stressed that DO operates outside the borders of the Emirates, even though it is 100 percent owned by the Dubai government. We work outside the Emirates according to international standards and norms recognized by oil and gas industry companies, and we in the company are proud of our success in maintaining distinguished and close relations with the host governments without forgetting. Support from our wise government is represented by supporting state embassies in these countries.