Abu Dhabi's Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) upgraded on Monday the hydrocarbon reserves of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), saying that the country has added 7 billion barrels of oil, moving up to sixth from seventh place in reserves globally, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said.
The SPC-the governing body of the UAE's oil industry-also announced the discovery of 58 trillion standard cubic feet (TSCF) of conventional natural gas and the discovery of 160 TSCF of unconventional gas over the past year, said ADNOC, which pumps all of the UAE's current oil production of 3 million barrels of oil per day.
The increase in the oil and gas reserves in the UAE makes the OPEC Middle Eastern producer 6th in both oil and gas reserves in the world, up from 7th, ADNOC said, noting that the reserves increase underpins the UAE's "position as a stable and long-term energy provider to the world."
In natural gas proven reserves, the UAE is now sixth in the world after Russia, Iran, Qatar, the U.S., and Saudi Arabia, according to data shared by ADNOC and based on estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
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In terms of largest proven oil reserves in the world, the UAE now also ranks sixth after adding 7 billion barrels in 2019. The UAE has surpassed Kuwait and is now at number six, preceded by Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, and Iraq.
Apart from upgrading the UAE's oil and gas reserves estimates, the Supreme Petroleum Council also decided on Monday to list ADNOC's Murban crude grade as a futures contract on an internationally recognized exchange, ADNOC said, adding that this would unlock "greater value for its customers, ADNOC and the UAE."
The Murban futures contract could be a successful crude oil benchmark as it has all the right characteristics, including high volumes and the potential for spot trading, analysts say.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More