Held under the patronage of President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi hosted the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC), one of the world’s leading oil and gas conferences and exhibitions. ADIPEC spans 200 sessions, with 980 expert speakers and over 10,400 delegates.
Participants in ADIPEC agreed that global oil and gas are the main elements of the economic growth, saying it is crucial to maintain investments in these sectors.
Speaking at ADIPEC, UAE Minister of State and CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Sultan al-Jaber asserted that global oil and gas will be a critical enabler of economic growth in the 4th Industrial Age.
Delivering the opening keynote address, he said the world is on the verge of an era of unprecedented prosperity, driven by rapid advances in technology and a global middle class, which will grow to five billion people by 2030, creating greater demand for energy and products derived from oil and gas.
Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court, Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan inaugurated ADIPEC 2018, which will be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center, between November 12 and 15.
Hosting more than 80 ministers, CEOs and global oil and gas business leaders as speakers, ADIPEC has convened the companies, decision- and policy-makers who shape the future of oil and gas supply, for four days of focused business, dialogue and knowledge transfer that addresses today’s energy challenges and defines tomorrow’s hydrocarbon landscape.
“We are at the cusp of a new age of opportunity for our industry- an era where digital innovation is delivering unprecedented levels of progress,” Jaber told the audience, noting that this era is creating a paradigm shift in global growth and driving demand for products.
“In short, this mission can be given a simple name – Oil and Gas 4.0,” he noted.
Jaber said ADNOC recognizes that to fulfill the mission of Oil and Gas 4.0, it must leverage all its resources, its partnerships and, in particular, the latest technologies, if it is to continue to thrive and deliver on the ambitious strategic objectives of its 2030 smart growth strategy.
ADNOC is continuing to put in place the building blocks, which would allow it to seize the opportunities created by Oil and Gas 4.0, noting the strategic oil and gas announcements, made recently by Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC), which will see ADNOC increase its oil production capacity to 4 million bpd by 2020 and to 5 million bpd by 2030 to meet growing global demand.
“As we set out to meet these ambitious goals, we will access our undeveloped reservoirs, tap into our gas caps and further capitalize on our sour gas. Today, we are able to make this happen by thinking outside the box, leveraging technology and reframing our business model,” confirmed Jaber, noting that this has finally unlocked the commercial formula that will enable the UAE to attain self-sufficiency and transition to becoming a net exporter of natural gas.
He also emphasized the importance of ADNOC’s downstream expansion, which capitalizes on the company's high-grade feedstock, proximity to growth markets and best in class logistics to create an integrated plug and play ecosystem, an ecosystem where partners are welcome to invest and grow alongside ADNOC.
On the sidelines of ADIPEC, ADNOC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves (ISPRL) to explore the possibility of storing ADNOC crude oil at ISPRL’s underground oil storage facility at Padur in Karnataka, which has a 2.5 million ton capacity.
Meanwhile, Mubadala Petroleum announced that it agreed with Eni to purchase a 20 percent participating interest from its share in the Nour North Sinai Offshore Area concession, an offshore exploration block in Egypt. Eni is the operator of the concession through its subsidiary, IEOC.
In the concession, which is in participation with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Eni holds an 85 percent interest in partnership with Tharwa Petroleum Company, which holds a 15 percent interest.