Abu Dhabi National Oil Company awarded two contracts to South Korea’s Samsung Engineering worth $3.5 billion to help process other crude grades as the company looks to free up its flagship Murban grade for export markets.
The first contract worth $3.1bn will enable Samsung to process 420,000 barrels per day of crude sourced from the offshore Upper Zakum concession, and grades of a similar nature from the market, Adnoc said in a statement. The second $473m contract will recover power and water and is set to generate 230MW electricity and 62,400 cubic metres of water per day by capturing waste heat using closed-cycle power generation technology.
"As Adnoc continues to deliver on its 2030 smart growth strategy, a number of new and exciting opportunities exist across our value chain, particularly in the downstream, which offer the potential to deepen and develop the longstanding relationship between Adnoc and its Korean counterparts,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, group chief executive of the Adnoc Group.
The UAE, the fourth-largest oil producer in the Middle East, is set to announce a downstream strategy soon, as it looks to profit more from the sale of products. Abu Dhabi, which produces much of the country’s oil and gas and accounts for 6 per cent of global crude reserves, aims to double refining and triple petrochemical capacities by 2025.
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Read more:
Adnoc expected to announce downstream strategy "soon", CEO says
UAE cuts Murban allocations for March by 25%, says Energy Minister
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Murban, the UAE’s flagship crude, has light, sweet properties comparable to tight oil from Eagle Ford in the US and is typically sold at a premium of $3.5 per barrel over the Dubai crude grade, said Iman Nasseri, acting managing director - Middle East at London-based Facts Global Energy. The UAE lowered allocations of Murban by 25 per cent in January in order to comply with the Opec-led restrictions on output to help boost prices and lower inventory levels, following the oil price slump of 2014.
Thailand and Japan are the biggest buyers of Murban crude, with smaller buys from other Asian consumers such as Sri Lanka and Taiwan, said Mr Nasseri.
Murban accounts for 10 per cent of Japan's current import of crude with Asia's second-largest economy importing around 200,000 bpd of Murban last year, with similar volumes bought by Thailand, data from FGE shows.
Mr Nasseri said that the award to the South Korean contractors comes amid plans at the refinery to have capabilities to process heavier, more sulphurous blends such as Upper Zakum.
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work on the Ruwais refinery West complex is set for completion by 2022, the company said in a statement.
The waste heat project, designed to lower the company’s environmental impact is targeting a 2023 completion timeline.
The Abu Dhabi oil major, which in October integrated its refining, transmission and distribution entities under a single brand umbrella as it looks to grow a leaner business model, is also looking to develop a mixed-liquid feedstock naphtha cracker, as well as investments to boost refining capacities.
The UAE’s five-year $109bn spending plan approved last year, includes upstream exploration for unconventional gas reserves, and plans to develop downstream capabilities at home and abroad.
Abu Dhabi’s state oil company is currently engaged in a flurry of upstream activity offshore the emirate, awarding concession stakes to European oil majors such as France’s Total and Italy's Eni as well as exploration and production firms from its traditional market base in Asia.
As Adnoc continues to split the erstwhile Adma-Opco entity while retaining a 60 per cent stake, its engagements with its new partners will look to evolve into possible downstream collaboration.
Total chief executive Patrick Pouyanne, whose company won $1.45bn worth of stakes in the twin oil and gas concessions of Umm Shaif and Nasr as well as Lower Zakum, told The National earlier this month that he was in talks with Adnoc to help the company "expand in the downstream."
Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala-owned Cepsa, which won a 20 per cent stake offshore last month, is also in the planning phase for a petrochemicals venture to build a linear alkyl benzene complex at Ruwais to be integrated with Adnoc’s refinery facility.
Also known as detergent alkylate, LAB is the most common chemical compound used in the manufacturing of biodegradable household and industrial agents.
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
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
The biog:
From: Wimbledon, London, UK
Education: Medical doctor
Hobbies: Travelling, meeting new people and cultures
Favourite animals: All of them
KYLIAN MBAPPE 2016/17 STATS
Ligue 1: Appearances - 29, Goals - 15, Assists - 8
UCL: Appearances - 9, Goals - 6
French Cup: Appearances - 3, Goals - 3
France U19: Appearances - 5, Goals - 5, Assists - 1
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
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
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
