United Arab Emirates announces major gas project ahead of COP28

Kamran Jebreili Associated Press At the opening of the Abu Dhabi energy fair on Monday, the boss of ADNOC and COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber reiterated that the gradual exit from fossil fuels was “inevitable”, while emphasizing the global economy's dependence on oil, gas and coal.

The Emirati hydrocarbon giant, ADNOC, announced on Thursday the award of construction contracts for a major gas project, a few weeks before the world climate conference (COP28) in the rich Gulf state.

< p>The contracts concern the Hail and Ghasha offshore fields, the UAE state-owned company said in a statement, promising that this project will be the “first in the world” to operate with a “net zero emissions” objective.

Signed on the last day of the Abu Dhabi energy fair, the contracts have an estimated total value of $16.94 billion.

The construction works of the two offshore sites have been awarded to a joint venture between the Emirati National Petroleum Construction and the Italian Saipem, while the Italian company Tecnimont will take care of the onshore infrastructure.

According to the press release, the project will include “innovative decarbonization technologies” to capture and store 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year, and will benefit from low-carbon hydrogen and electricity produced from nuclear and renewable energies.

The Hail-Ghasha project is part of the Ghasha concession in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which aims to produce more than 42.5 million cubic meters of gas per day by 2030, contributing “to the self-sufficiency of the United Arab Emirates in gas, and the growth and export strategy of ADNOC gas”, the group's gas subsidiary, according to the same source.

The concession is operated by ADNOC, Eni, OMV, Wintershall Dea and Lukoil.

 

In a report published in September, experts from the Climate Action Tracker group highlighted the Emirates' dependence on gas for its electricity production, raising concerns about the country's gamble host of COP28 on carbon capture.

The UN climate conference, which opens on November 30 in Dubai, is chaired by ADNOC boss Sultan al-Jaber, whose appointment to the post has sparked criticism, defenders of environment denouncing the role of the hydrocarbon sector in global warming.

At the opening of the show on Monday, Sultan al-Jaber reiterated that the gradual exit from fossil fuels was “inevitable”, while highlighting the global economy's dependence on oil, gas and coal.

ADNOC committed in July to achieving carbon neutrality by 2045 for its own operations, but this target does not take into account accounts for indirect emissions produced by hydrocarbons exported and burned by its customers, and which represent the vast majority of its carbon footprint.

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