The UAE will continue with its investment programme to explore its massive hydrocarbon potential - and it won't be affected by the recent plunge in oil prices.
Downward oil prices won't affect or delay plans to increasing its daily output to 3.5 million bpd by 2017 from 2.7 million bpd in 2013, said Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Al Mazroui, UAE Minister of Energy.Speaking to reporters, he confirmed that "investments are going, we are continuing with our investments".
Brent crude oil prices plunged to $48.13 a barrel on October 3 from $114 in mid-June last year. The UAE's commitment to the hydrocarbon projects is a general policy in the region as similar views were echoed by Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali Al Naimi over the weekend. "In the medium term, about 117 projects, with an overall estimated cost of some $270 billion, are being undertaken by Opec member countries," the Opec said in a report on its website.
Global oil investments this year are expected to drop by 20 per cent, marking their biggest decline in history, Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said on Friday.
The minister said that the UAE was investing $35 billion on projects that will help make the nation transit from generating electricity from fossil fuel sources to clean energy sources of nuclear, solar and wind, which will not only diversify its energy mix but will also, reduce its dependence on natural gas imports.
Highlighting the UAE's clean energy achievements, Al Mazroui explained that the $35 billion projects include Baraka's nuclear reactors, which will generate 5,600MW of clean energy in 2020, while the other major projects include the 100MW Shams solar power project in Madina Zayed and the upcoming 200MW solar power plant in Dubai.
"We need to minimise our reliance on natural gas and its imports. The aim was to decrease dependence on natural gas from 100 per cent now to 70 per cent by 2021," the minister said. The UAE, which is one of the world's top 20 gas producers, became a net importer of natural gas in 2008.
The nation's natural gas consumption reached a record high of more than 2.4 trillion cubic feet in 2013. The country uses a large amount of natural gas in its enhanced oil recovery operations and to operateits power and desalination plants, according to statistics by the US department of energy.
The UAE is the first GCC nation to consider nuclear power to generate energy in order to increase clean energy sources. The country awarded Korea's Kepco a mega project to build four units of 1,400MW capacity in Barakah costing $20 billion. Once the project is complete in 2020, it would provide 24 per cent of the UAE's total energy requirement by 2020.
Earlier, Al Mazroui opened the the Power-Gen Middle East Conference and Exhibition in the presence of Dr Matar Hamed Al Neyadi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy; Eng Jamila Youssef Matar, director of energy management at the Arab League; and Glenn Ensor, managing director of PennWell International Power Group, who gave speeches at the joint opening ceremony.
Eng Matar said: "Many Arab countries are currently seeking effective ways to develop electrical industries and equipment."
Over 40 local and international electricity producers and original equipment manufacturers are showcasing their products and services.