UAE’s Adnoc plans to capitalize on Asian oil demand: CEO

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) plans to focus more on fast-growth markets like Asia under its recently unveiled 2030 strategy and five-year business plan, the company’s chief executive Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said at a conference on Monday.

“By taking full advantage of our geography at the pivot point between East and West, we will capitalize on the world’s fastest growing markets, including Asia, where oil demand is expected to increase 15 per cent and the market for petrochemicals is set to double by 2030,” Al Jaber said at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

Amid the ongoing slump in hydrocarbon prices, oil producers need to focus more on efficiency, he added.

“While we cannot predict the future price of oil, one factor remains well within our control and that is the cost of every barrel we produce. In this new energy era we must reflect on how to make the most of our resources, enhance our performance and find new ways to be more competitive.”

Al Jaber’s comments came a few days after Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council approved Adnoc’s 2030 strategy and five-year business plan, under which the company reaffirmed its commitment to achieve a production target of 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2018 – an increase of 400,000 bpd from current output.

On the downstream side, Adnoc is planning to boost domestic refining and petrochemical capacity through investments in new projects, including gasoline and aromatics production and additional polyolefin capacity.

Gasoline production will increase to 10.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2022, while petrochemical production will be raised from 4.5 mtpa in 2016 to 11.4 mtpa by 2025.

Like other national oil companies in the region, Adnoc has been majorly affected by the plunge in oil prices, with the company undergoing a series of management and structural changes this year.

In May, it replaced the chief executives of six of its operating companies, including its largest oil, gas and petrochemicals-producing interests.

The organization is also looking to cut 5,000 jobs by the end of 2016, with 2,000 employees having been laid off since the year began, MEED reported earlier this year, citing industry sources.

Last month, Adnoc announced plans to integrate the operations of two offshore firms, Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO) and Zakum Development Company (ZADCO), into a single entity.

The new company would “enable efficiencies and synergies across the multiple ADMA-OPCO and ZADCO offshore concessions and fields,” Adnoc said.

Write to Jerusha Sequeira at jerusha.s@argaamnews.com