ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - UAE Interact

140 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES YEARBOOK 2006some horizontal wells, tapping into the Thamama formation and development ofa new gas processing platform to handle Thamama gas. The platform is equippedfor condensate separation and stabilisation, together with gas dehydration andcompression. The secondary development programme has had a positive impacton Sharjah’s oil production, which is reported to have reached 48,000 b/d in2004. This was made up of 6000 b/d crude oil and 12,000 b/d of condensatesfrom the offshore Mubarak field and 30,000 b/d of condensate from the onshoreSaja’a field, Moveyeid and the Kahaif fields.Ra’s al-KhaimahThree companies are currently engaged in oil exploration in Ra’s al-Khaimah.They are the US-based Ra’s al-Khaimah Oil and Gas Company, Chinese-ownedAtlantis Holdings, and the Indonesian registered company, Novus Petroleum.The newcomer on the block is Novus, which has a 100 per cent interest in the600-square-kilometre onshore Hagil tract. Following completion of a 2D seismicsurvey, Novus indicated that it would drill a deep exploratory well in mid-2005.This is expected to yield gas rather than oil.FujairahNaftogaz Middle East, a UAE-Ukrainian consortium formed by NaftoGaz Ukrainyand Al Jazira Enterprise for Project Development and Trading, plans to invest up toUS$600 million in exploration for oil and gas reserves in Fujairah. The companysigned an exploration concession agreement in early 2005 for the whole of theonshore and offshore areas of Fujairah, with the first seismic work due to takeplace in late 2005. Under the terms of the concession agreement, Naftogaz MiddleEast will acquire previous seismic data obtained in Fujairah, as well as data on anunsuccessful well drilled in the Bay of Dibba over a decade ago. Initial targets areexpected to be onshore to the west of the Hajar Mountains, in the Habhab area,not far from Sharjah’s successful onshore gas and condensate fields at Saja’a,Moveyeid and Kahaif. Studies will also be carried out offshore. The agreement isfor a 30-year term, with initial seismic studies due to be completed within two anda half years. Any eventual output will be shared by the emirate and the contractors.AjmanDespite discovery of the small Zora field, which straddles the border betweenAjman and Sharjah, and signing of a production-sharing agreement for developmentof the field, work had not commenced on this by mid-2005.Umm al-QaiwainAtlantis Holdings, owned by China’s Sinochem, has the right to explore the wholeof Umm al-Qaiwain’s onshore and offshore territory for oil and gas reserves. It hascarried out both an onshore 3D seismic survey and some offshore exploratorydrilling. Whilst results of the latter have not been released, the company didOutput of Refined Products by type (1,000 b/d)% change2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 04/03TOTAL 315.3 309.5 424.7 430.2 439.8 2.2Gasoline 29.6 na 31.2 35.0 40.7 16.3Kerosene 84.7 na 107.0 118.5 117.0 -1.3Distillates 79.7 na 95.6 94.2 96.9 2.9Residuals 36.9 na 31.1 21.4 23.5 9.8Others 84.4 na 159.7 161.1 161.7 0.4Source: OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin 2004