UAE to maintain current oil output but also focused on raising capacity: minister

The UAE is committed to maintaining crude production within its quota under the OPEC/non-OPEC cut agreement of 3.07 million b/d as long as the deal remains in force, its energy minister, Suhail al-Mazrouei, said Monday.

But the minister reiterated that OPEC’s third-largest producer is also focusing on increasing its production capacity to 5 million b/d by 2030, to provide the market with some cushion in the event of a supply shortage.

“That does not mean we are intending to bring additional resources to the market that doesn’t need it,” he told reporters in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he was attending an OPEC/non-OPEC monitoring committee meeting.

“But we think there will be a requirement from now until 2030 for additional volumes. We have a healthy growth, and we think even the shale oil producers, their production will plateau and it will need someone to fill in that gap.” He also said the UAE was planning to make $109 billion in upstream investment over the next four to five years.

Mazrouei declined to provide specific figures for UAE production going forward. “We will be always meeting our target and maybe exceeding it for some months,” he added. “Our conformity in February was higher than the required cut, and I think in the coming months, we will continue to adhere to the cut required. Overall our expectation is that we will deliver 100% cuts.”

The UAE pumped 3.05 million b/d in February, according to the latest S&P Global Platts OPEC production survey.

The production cut agreement, under which OPEC and 10 non-OPEC countries agreed to collective supply curbs of 1.2 million b/d, runs through June.
Source: Platts