UAE wants to position itself as a leader in gas and hydrogen

Natural gas and blue hydrogen will play an important role over the next 50 years, in powering the economic growth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Managing Director and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in a televised address during Gastech 2021, that took place in Dubai. 

“As the world consolidates its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, LNG and broader gas markets globally are tightening, with demand outpacing supply. Longer-term, the outlook is also robust, driven particularly by markets in Asia. Today, gas provides almost one-quarter of the world’s energy supply and will continue to play a critical role in the global energy system," he said.

"No other fuel source can reliably supply the baseload power to heat and cool homes, drive heavy industry and expand economies, all while keeping emissions at a minimum,” he explained.

The UAE which is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and is a top oil producer, has been working on reducing their dependence on oil and fossil fuels and position themselves as a regional leader in the blue hydrogen market.

"We are going to become 50 percent [less] relying on fossil by 2050,” explained Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure in a ministerial panel that discussed achieving net zero, as the industry drive energy transition.

The UAE has been looking to expand production from their gas assets, such as the Shah field while developing new ones, such as the Umm Shaif gas cap and the Hail, Ghasha and Dalma projects.

The CEO added that the company has been leveraging technologies to expand into unconventional gas, while tapping into gas caps and unlocking new reservoirs.

“Construction of artificial islands is underway and we are leveraging our experience in world-class developments to ensure costs are minimized and commercial benefits maximized for all our partners. Together, these projects will deliver over 3 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day, enough to power several million homes,” Al Jaber explained further. 

Moreover, ADNOC produces a 300,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year.