Dr Sultan Al Jaber at the loading of the historic first cargo of crude oil destined for the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves. This year Adnoc secured markets for 40 per cent of the UAE’s oil for the next 40 years. Courtesy Adnoc
Dr Sultan Al Jaber at the loading of the historic first cargo of crude oil destined for the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves. This year Adnoc secured markets for 40 per cent of the UAE’s oil for thShow more

More deals and partners to come for Adnoc after landmark 2018, says Sultan Al Jaber



The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company plans to conclude new transactions and partnerships next year as it builds on a landmark 2018, during which it secured billions of dirhams in fees and customers for almost half the country’s crude for the coming four decades.

Adnoc will also identify new investment opportunities in 2019, said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, group chief executive and a UAE Minister of State.

“We have a number of exciting transactions and partnerships in the pipeline that we look forward to delivering in the year ahead as part of our 2030 smart growth strategy,” he said.

The company did not provide further details on the nature of the potential investments and deals.

Dr Al Jaber also said the company would remain vigilant to global market dynamics.

The outlook for the energy sector has become more bearish in recent weeks, with US oil production at a record high, Brent crude prices 40 per cent lower since early October and the global economic picture affected by trade tensions.
Adnoc intends to build on a very active past 12 months during which it announced a huge volume of investments, concessions and partnerships.

These include Dh29.1 billion in offshore concession participation fees and the securing of markets for 40 per cent of the UAE’s oil for the next 40 years, it said, including  deals with Spain’s Cepsa, Japan’s Inpex, an ONGC Videsh-led consortium from India and Austria’s OMV.

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Read more:

Adnoc awards Austria's OMV 5% stake in gas concession

Adnoc awards Chinese firm four per cent interest in onshore unit

Adnoc and Mubadala to jointly explore downstream investments

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Over the life of the concessions, many more millions of dirhams will be generated as oil production increases and new markets are secured, said Adnoc.

There have also been a number of gas-focused production deals signed to support the drive for self-sufficiency.
There is also immense future potential in refining and petrochemicals in the key markets of China and India after a number of agreements were made in the downstream segment this year.

Reflecting on 2018, Dr Al Jaber, said the company’s responsibility “remains as true today as it did when it was first established: to create, maximise and deliver economic value for our country, enabling its growth and prosperity”.

"In this spirit, we remained true to the transformation journey we embarked on in early 2016 and maintained the same underlying focus on improving performance, driving efficiencies and strengthening profitability," he said.

The rapid and comprehensive change-strategy in place since Dr Jaber became chief executive almost three years ago is aimed at optimising resources and efficiency, strengthening overall performance and fostering a more commercial culture.

This year, Adnoc has also stepped up the use of hydraulic fracturing technology, putting the UAE at the forefront in the Middle East in terms of exploring for gas onshore via "fracking".

US oil services provider Baker Hughes, which has bought a $550 million 5 per cent stake in Adnoc’s drilling subsidiary, should be able to fast track Abu Dhabi’s fracking capabilities and give a boost to the commercial potential of these unconventional resources by reducing costs.

There will be a focus on further leveraging the operational benefits of digital technology in 2019, Dr Al Jaber said.

For example, Adnoc is working with IBM to pilot a blockchain-based automated system to integrate all of its oil and gas production.

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Amit%20Joshi%20and%20Aradhana%20Sah%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECast%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shahid%20Kapoor%2C%20Kriti%20Sanon%2C%20Dharmendra%2C%20Dimple%20Kapadia%2C%20Rakesh%20Bedi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
  • The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
  • The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
  • The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
  • The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
  • The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20WallyGPT%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2014%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESaeid%20and%20Sami%20Hejazi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%247.1%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2020%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%20round%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
At a glance

- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years

- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills

- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis

- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector

- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes

- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government

$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal

Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.

School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.

“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.  

“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

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Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes