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United Arab Emirates
Index
Abu Dhabi granted its first oil concession, covering
its
entire territory, in 1939 to the Trucial Coast Development
Oil
Company (renamed the Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company, or ADPC,
in
1962). Oil was discovered in 1960; production and export
commenced in 1962 offshore and in 1963 onshore. ADNOC
acquired 60
percent of ADPC in the early 1970s. In 1978 ADPC was
reconstituted as the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil
Operations
(Adco). In the late 1980s, the remainder of Adco's shares
were
divided: British Petroleum (BP), Royal Dutch Shell Oil,
and
Compagnie Française des Pétroles (CFP) received 9.5
percent each;
Mobil Oil and Exxon, 4.75 percent each; and Participations
and
Explorations (Partex), 2.0 percent. The principal onshore
fields
were Bu Hasa, Bab, and Asab. Onshore production totaled
267
million barrels in 1980.
In 1953 the amirate granted a concession to the D'Arcy
Exploration Company of Britain to look for oil in offshore
and
submerged areas not covered in the ADPC concession. Abu
Dhabi
Marine Areas (ADMA), a multinational consortium, took over
this
concession in 1955. The company made its first commercial
strike
in 1958, and production and export started in 1962. In
1977 ADMA
and ADNOC agreed to form the Abu Dhabi Marine Areas
Operating
Company (ADMA-Opco) for offshore work. In the late 1980s,
ADNOC
owned 60 percent of ADMA-Opco; Japan Oil Development
Company,
12.0 percent; BP, 14.7 percent; and CFP, 13.3 percent.
Offshore
fields included Umm ash Shayf, Az Zuqum, Sath ar Ras Boot,
Dalma,
and Umm ad Dalkh. The island of Das, northeast of the
island of
Dalma, became the center for offshore operations.
Unlike most gulf countries, as of the end of 1992 Abu
Dhabi
had not claimed 100 percent ownership of its oil industry.
ADNOC
was established in 1971 and, in addition to holding
majority
shares in Adco and ADMA-Opco, was involved in producing,
refining, distributing, and shipping gas. ADNOC owned 51
percent
of the Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company, whose Das
facility has
sent most of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) to Japan since 1977. In 1988 the Das
facility
produced nearly 2.5 million tons of LNG from offshore
fields.
ADNOC also holds 68 percent of Abu Dhabi Gas Industries,
which
extracts propane, butane, and condensate at the Ar Ruways
plant
from associated gas produced by the onshore Bu Hasa, Bab,
and
Asab fields.
Abu Dhabi's refining, at plants in Umm an Nar and Ar
Ruways,
is also controlled by ADNOC. Total refining capacity in
1991 was
185,000 bpd, of which 100,000 bpd was available for
export.
Marketing and distribution are carried out by the Abu
Dhabi
National Oil Company for Distribution, an ADNOC
subsidiary. To
buy refineries and gas stations in Europe and Japan, ADNOC
and
the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority formed a joint venture,
the
International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC). In
1989
IPIC held a 20 percent share in a Madrid-based refining
company.
The amirate's exports are pumped through terminals at
Jabal
az Zannah and on the island of Das. There is a smaller
terminal
at Al Mubarraz.
Data as of January 1993
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