The UAE made significant oil and gas discoveries that have raised its oil and gas reserves to 105 billion barrels. The new oil and gas discoveries helped the UAE overcome Kuwait to become the holder of the world’s sixth-largest oil and gas reserves, according to local media reports.
The UAE’s Supreme Petroleum Council, the highest energy decision-making body, said that the new discoveries included seven billion barrels of crude oil and 58 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The UAE also discovered 160 trillion cubic feet of unconventional natural gas. The UAE’s natural gas reserves now stand at 7.7 billion cubic metres.
“We are very pleased and honoured to have enabled the UAE to move from the seventh to the sixth-largest oil and gas reserves in both global rankings,” Sultan Al Jaber, the CEO of UAE oil producer Adnoc said on the UAE oil and gas discoveries.
With an eye on boosting the UAE’s status as an energy provider to the fast-growing economies of Asia, Adnoc’s Murban crude oil will be listed on an internationally recognised exchange. The SPC has approved the move to list Murban on a globally-recognised exchange. The move is expected to improve the terms of Murban’s global sales.
Adnoc is expected to implement its new Murban forward crude pricing mechanism between the second and third quarters of 2020. The SPC also approved the removal of destination restrictions on Adnoc’ sale of Murban crude.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Vice-Chairman of the SPC presided over the SPC meeting that took these decisions. Sheikh Mohammed said that Adnoc is being transformed into performance-led and commercially-driven organisation to make it an integrated energy company with global reach and higher customer focus.