UAE spearheading self-reliance in gas regionally, says Minister Sultan Al Jaber
- 21 Sep 2021
Gulf Today Report
The UAE is spearheading achievements in the region where self-reliance in the gas sector is concerned, says Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Managing Director and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). It is also beefing up its position as a regional leader in the emerging hydrogen market.
Natural gas will spur on the country’s growth over the next 50 years, Al Jaber remarked.
Delivering the opening address of Gastech 2021, Dr. Al Jaber highlighted the UAE's leadership in natural gas and said "natural gas will support the nation’s vision for economic growth as set out by the Leadership in the 'Principles of the Fifty'."
In 1973, on Sheikh Zayed’s direction, ADNOC stopped burning the associated gas from all its operations, and instead captured it and shipped it.
"In short," Dr. Al Jaber added, "we turned an environmental liability into a commercial opportunity. From that moment, when it came to gas, we never looked back. For almost fifty years the UAE has viewed gas in all its forms as one big opportunity, and we've built our gas business on a number of firsts."
Sheikh Zayed's commitment to the environment and truly sustainable development was the overarching stimulus, according to WAM.
The UAE is truly a nation of firsts. The country was the first in the region to stop flaring and find economic uses for gas, the first to build a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant, the first to produce ultra-sour gas on an industrial scale, and the first to store carbon dioxide and use it in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) to liberate more gas.
The UAE is on track to achieve gas self-sufficiency as ADNOC leverages advanced technologies to expand into unconventional gas, tap into gas caps and unlock new reservoirs, as part of the company’s integrated gas strategy launched in 2018.
"Construction of artificial islands is under way and we are leveraging our experience in world-class developments to ensure costs are minimised and commercial benefits maximised for all our partners. Together, these projects will deliver over 3 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day, enough to power several million homes."