UAE 2012 oil output averages 2.65m bpd — IEA

Abu Dhabi: UAE’s annual oil production average was 2.65 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2012, up from 2.5 million bpd in 2011, latest figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed.

The country’s oil output in December was 2.68 million bpd, up from 2.65 million bpd in November, said the Paris-based IEA, which advises 28 industrialised countries on energy policy.

“Production from the UAE edged up 30,000 bpd, while Qatari production was up a smaller 10,000 bpd at 740,000 bpd. The UAE’s plans to increase production capacity from the current 2.8 million bpd to 3 million bpd have been delayed from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013 now,” according to the IEA.

During the fourth quarter of 2012, the UAE oil output was 2.67 million bpd, marginally lower than 2.69 million bpd for the third quarter of the same year, according to the IEA’s figures.

The officials at the UAE’s Ministry of Energy weren’t immediately available to comment on the IEA’s figures.

The emirate of Abu Dhabi produces more than 90 per cent of the UAE’s crude oil output, the bulk of which is exported.

Crude boost

The UAE intends to increase its oil production capacity to 3.5 million bpd by 2018 to meet the rising global oil demand. Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco), majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), plans to invest at least $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) developing two offshore fields to boost the firm’s crude output by 60 per cent by 2017.

As per plan, Abu Dhabi’s state oil producer Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) will spend $40 billion (Dh146.93 billion) on crude, natural gas, petrochemical and refinery projects from 2010 through 2014. Gas projects under construction account for $25 billion of that.

Abu Dhabi aims to start producing about 500 million cubic feet a day of sour gas in 2014 from a $10 billion venture with Occidental Petroleum Corp at its onshore Shah field. The Shah field is located 210 kilometres south west of Abu Dhabi city.