The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) moved to provide cleaner fuel at the pump yesterday, awarding a contract to a US firm to enable it to remove sulphur from crude at a new refinery in Ruwais.
The contract with UOP for equipment to remove the sulphur is a big step towards Adnoc's goal of providing ultra low-sulphur "green" diesel by 2011. Sulphur is a potent pollutant that forms sulphur-dioxide - a contributor to smog and acid rain - when burnt, and has been linked to asthma and other respiratory ailments.
Adnoc's diesel has a sulphur content of 500 parts per million (ppm) but the company wants to slash that figure to 10 ppm, in line with strict clean-air standards in Europe.
"This facility will help us to meet the growing demand for clean fuels and chemicals in the Middle East and around the world," said Jasem al Sayegh, the general manager of Takreer, Adnoc's refining unit.
An expansion at Adnoc's refinery in Ruwais has been in the works for years, and is scheduled to be completed by 2014. The new facility will have a capacity to process 417,000 barrels per day (bpd), complementing Adnoc's current refining capacity of 485,000 bpd.
The new refinery will boost Abu Dhabi's exports of oil products, which have steadily declined as domestic demand for petrol, diesel and fuel oil has ballooned.
In 2005, the Emirate exported 250,000 bpd of product, according to figures provided by PFC Energy, a US energy research firm. This year it exported 144,000 bpd.
"Domestic demand has gone through the roof in the past few years," said Raja Kiwan, an analyst for PFC who is based in Dubai.
He noted that last year was the first year in which Adnoc did not export any petrol.
The move to green diesel is part of a drive to reverse the downwards trend in exports, as it will upgrade Abu Dhabi's diesel to international specifications, making it more competitive on world markets, Mr Kiwan said.
"That's a trend across the region to produce ultra low-sulphur diesel, not only for the domestic market, but also to export," Mr Kiwan said. "It's part of a push to extract more value from crude farther downstream."
Abu Dhabi has long been a big exporter of jet fuel, diesel and naphtha, most of which goes to markets in east Asia. The Ruwais refinery was initially built as an export facility, with domestic demand satisfied by the Umm al Nar refinery on the outskirts of the capital.
As Abu Dhabi's economy has grown, however, a larger proportion of oil products from Ruwais has been redirected to the home market.
Adnoc and UOP, an Illinois-based refinery supply firm that is a subsidiary of Honeywell International, did not disclose the value of yesterday's contract.
UOP's equipment will also remove sulphur from liquid petroleum gas and kerosene at Ruwais. The company will also supply equipment to regulate the benzene content in petrol.
cstanton@thenational.ae
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
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