Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has completed a US$11bn project to process and supply offshore gas to meet burgeoning domestic demand
The Integrated Gas Development (IDG) will add 22.6mn standard cubic metres of gas per day to domestic supply. This marks a shift towards offshore gas to meet local demand that has been increasing at a rate of 15 per cent a year.
Mohammed Sahoo Al Suwaidi, director general at ADNOC’s gas directorate, said, “We should be receiving the offshore gas from Umm Shaif and Das Island in the next few days. Production will start ramping up.”
The offshore field and facilities on the island are part of the scope of the IDG. The project also includes onshore processing facilities at Ruwais and an extensive underwater pipeline system. Most of the gas will come from the Umm Shaif field, company sources said.
Suwaidi added, “Gas processing capability must continue to be developed in order to meet a domestic gas demand which is growing at almost 15 per cent annually.”
According to Suwaidi, Abu Dhabi is resorting to imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fend off an immediate shortage, but wants to draw on more affordable domestic reserves in the long term.
Already, US$25bn worth of gas projects are either under way or are being tendered, ADNOC sources said.
The new strategy will pivot away from onshore gas reserves to developing offshore resources. While offshore oil accounts for about 40 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s total output, only 25 per cent of gas is pumped offshore. The offshore drive is expected to focus on conventional gas, most of which is found in oil reservoirs and produced as associated gas.
Exploring the UAE’s potential for shale gas — gas trapped in deep-lying rock formations — could also be part of this strategy.
ADNOC and US company Occidental are expected to complete the US$10bn Shah sour gas project by 2014, and Shell was recently awarded a similar project at Bab Field.
