UAE assures Asia of steady oil supplies

The UAE assured yesterday it Asian partners, mainly in Japan, of supplying them with steady oil and gas.

"The UAE and Abu Dhabi national oil company (adnoc) have a historic record as a reliable supplier of oil and gas to its clients in Asia and Japan ... We are firmly committed to keep that record clean by proper investment and well-planning in order to meet requirements of world oil market," said yusouf omair bin yusouf, adnoc ceo, during a reception held here on the occasion of his visit to Japan.

Abu Dhabi, the main oil producer of Opec member the United Arab Emirates, aims to boost output capacity at its Murban oilfield by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) between December and next March, the head of its state-oil company said.

"There are new capacities coming gradually from June onward," bin yusouf, said.

"we'll achieve that goal through increasing output capacity, improve quality of products and maintain fixed levels of supplies,'' he added.

"we have common concerns over the sudden fluctuations of the world oil market ... We realise that what is happening on the market today is part of challenges we face and a main reason of anxiety haunting Opec member countries," he remarked.

He blamed growing world demand and bottlenecks on the exploration, development and refining sectors for the high prices.

These factors, he noted had raised fears about possible shortage in future supply, resulting in robust speculations on the futures contracts accompanied by sharp increase in prices.

He said that adnoc is proud of its partnership with Japan and looking forward to push it for further growth.

After the increase, Abu Dhabi's total production capacity will be around 2.7 million bpd, compared with a current 2.4-2.5 million bpd, said bin yusouf.

Abu Dhabi plans to further raise output capacity to three million bpd in the next 3-5 years to ease concerns over global oil supplies, he said.

UAE supplies about 1.1 million bpd to Japan, or 25 per cent of its total demand. The volume accounts for 15 per cent of the UAE's total exports.

Bin Yousof said it was unlikely that the Opec would reduce crude oil production despite the recent drop in prices below $50 a barrel.