His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Vice President of the Supreme Petroleum Council) affirmed that ADNOC will continue its pioneering efforts during the year 2020 in enhancing the local added value and actively contributing to the sustainability of economic growth in the UAE while continuing to achieve its operational and financial goals and maintain The continuity of its work in light of the exceptional circumstances that the world is going through due to the spread of the “Covid-19” pandemic.

The Emirates News Agency stated that the Supreme Petroleum Council approved ADNOC’s business plan to increase its capital investments to 448 billion dirhams for the next five years, which will enable the company to achieve smart growth. Through this plan, ADNOC intends to redirect $ 43.6 billion to the local economy during the period between 2021-2025 through its program to enhance in-country value, which aims to cooperate with private sector companies and international companies to contribute to economic and social development and create job opportunities for UAE citizens.

The Supreme Petroleum Council also announced new discoveries of unconventional oil resources that can be recovered in land areas estimated at about 22 billion barrels of oil, in addition to an increase in conventional oil reserves by two billion barrels of oil in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

For his part, Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and CEO of ADNOC, said that this discovery reflects the efficiency of ADNOC in accelerating the pace of exploration and development of Abu Dhabi’s unconventional hydrocarbon resources.

He added, “ADNOC continues to work on developing large-scale investment projects in Ruwais to achieve the maximum possible value from every barrel of oil we produce … in line with the directives of the leadership and with our strategy to expand our operations in the field of refining and petrochemicals, foremost among which are the plans to develop Ruwais and convert it into a vital global center for industrial growth and economic diversification in the UAE, and to enhance our capabilities in marketing, supply and trading to achieve greater value from our products.

The 22 billion barrels of discoveries exceed some major fields in Abu Dhabi in terms of resources, as the production potential is compared to the largest shale oil operations in North America, and the evaluation of unconventional oil resources has been supported by comprehensive and expanded data on wells in addition to a dedicated appraisal program from ADNOC in an onshore area. It covers an area of ​​25,000 square kilometers in Abu Dhabi.

The conventional oil reserves of two billion barrels contribute to an increase in the UAE’s reserves of conventional oil resources to 107 billion barrels of recoverable oil, which strengthens the country’s position in sixth place in the world in the list of countries with the highest oil reserves.

Based on the data available from detailed studies of the petroleum system and seismic surveys obtained from exploration and evaluation wells, it is estimated that the new areas within the second round of competitive bidding contain large resources estimated at several billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.

ADNOC’s most important achievements during the year 2020 came in announcing the discovery of a new natural gas reservoir in the region between Saih Al-Sedira (Abu Dhabi) and Jebel Ali (Dubai), with a huge stockpile of 80 trillion cubic feet of natural gas supplies to support its major development projects during the next phase, in line with the development strategy aimed at preparing for the next fifty years.

ADNOC has recently succeeded, for the first time, in producing the first quantity of unconventional gas in the UAE, with the concession of the unconventional Al Dhiab gas basin in Ruwais. It is also the first time that a project in the Middle East to develop unconventional gas has succeeded by pumping its production to pipelines early in the project schedule. This achievement is an important step within the company’s ongoing efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in gas in the UAE, as ADNOC plans to produce one billion cubic feet per day of unconventional gas resources before 2030.

Despite the conditions and challenges of the market, which witnessed a decline in oil prices and the reluctance of many investment institutions to do new deals, ADNOC has once again demonstrated its distinguished capabilities and the great confidence it enjoys in the world, and has established its position as a reliable and reliable destination for investments in all circumstances. Attracting 62 billion dirhams of foreign direct investment to the UAE this year, bringing the total foreign direct investment that ADNOC has attracted since 2016 to 237 billion dirhams.