Oil field research lab goes into commercial operation

The UAE-Norwegian joint venture Emirates Link ResLab (El Reslab) has begun full commercial operation, and it plans to set up a research centre, a senior company official said. "The lab began full commercial operations a few months ago and we have been focusing on Abu Dhabi for the last six months," Managing Director Gary Sinclair said.

The $8 million petroleum reservoir laboratory El Reslab was officially opened last October in the capital's Mussaffah industrial area. Since then "significant additional capital" has been injected, he said. The company offers customised core analysis and geological reservoir description studies to local and neighbouring oil industry.

"The response has been very good ever since we started from local to neighbouring markets such as Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Business has been growing and we plan to expand in line with the company's growth," Sinclair said.

El Reslab performs geological services for main oil companies in the Gulf which include physical testing of rocks as well as hydrocarbons. A joint venture between Reservoir Laboratories AS (ResLab) of Norway and the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Link for Integrated Technology (Elite), the company was set up in view of the demand from local oil companies for high-quality data to assist in improved petroleum production.