Abu Dhabi is set to embark on a major oilfield research and development push that could help to add as much as US$500 billion of value to oil reservoirs.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is making a strategic push into R&D through a large investment in a new centre at its Petroleum Institute in the capital.
The expansion reflects a major departure in R&D for both Adnoc and the Petroleum Institute, which includes a specific mandate for the institute to come up with ways to add 5 per cent – or about $500bn of value – to Abu Dhabi's oil reservoir recovery rates, according to the Petroleum Institute president Thomas Hochstettler.
It includes a new $90 million Petroleum Institute research building, which is due to open by the end of the year. It will house hundreds of new staff, including dedicated researchers in its 32 laboratories, and have an initial annual operating budget of about $33m.
A second facility of about half the size is slated to come onstream at a later, unspecified date. The expansion reflects a determination to get more value for money, according to Marc Michel Durandeau, a former long-serving Total executive who has been appointed to run the new centre.
“The new strategy is to ensure that PI can contribute to and benefit from projects,” Mr Durandeau said. “Before the contribution to projects we were funding maybe 5 per cent – just someone travelling once a year to see some people in a university. For me this money was not well spent. It was more like a donation.”
The approach has not made commercial sense for Adnoc either. As Mr Durandeau explained, the state oil company had largely relied on its private sector partners – including Total, as well as BP, Shell and Exxon – for advanced field development technology that they have developed elsewhere in the world where conditions may not be applicable.
“Adnoc has the same problem we have,” Mr Durandeau said. “If you don’t do your own research you have to rely on that which is produced outside.
“Big companies are coming here to get concessions and to get them they offer new technologies. But if you don’t have good knowledge of the capabilities and suitability of the technology how can you make the business case? If you don’t have your own in-house knowledge it is difficult to assess what you need.”
The new centre will be central to Adnoc’s new system, whereby each of its operating companies will have R&D units focused on deploying R&D in field conditions. The initiative also marks a new level of academic maturity for the 15-year old Petroleum Institute.
The institute has applied to the Abu Dhabi educational authority to introduce a doctorate programme next year.
“The heart of the PhD programme is the ability to set up and direct a programme on an original topic of research,” said Murray Gray, provost and head of academics at the institute.
Adnoc’s strategic partners will also be part of the process with BP, Shell, Total and Japan Oil Development Company (Jodco) helping to fund the research centre.
amcauley@thenational.ae
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Sreesanth's India bowling career
Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40
ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55
T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12
MORE ON IRAN'S PROXY WARS
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Hotel Silence
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Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
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Rating: 4/5 stars
