Oil Production and Consumption: Strategies for the UAE/ Justin Dargin

Includes bibliographical references and notes.

Introduction - - overview of Emirati Natural Gas Demand -- Technological Advance in Production: EOR Techniques -- Case Study: Increased Production in Cantarell Field through Nitrogen EOR -- Reducing Domestic Oil Consumption -- Growth of UAE Petroleum Consumption -- Conclusion: Policy Recommendations - - Notes -- Bibliography - - About the Author.

The Arabian Gulf region has the most prodigious energy reserves in the world. As of 2012, it contained 489.4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, approximately 36 percent of global supply. The latest figures for 2012 indicate that the region collectively produced 17.3 million barrels per day (m/bpd). With the advantage of enormous oil reserves and small, albeit growing, populations, the region exports the majority of its oil production. The region holds approximately 42 trillion cubic meters (TCM) of natural gas, about 23 percent of global natural gas reserves, but it only produces about 8 percent of the total global production. With the exception of Qatar, most Gulf countries consume the majority of their natural gas production. It is estimated that at current production rates, the official oil reserves will last another 70 years and natural gas reserves another 118 years. In terms of the UAE, it has approximately the seventh largest proven oil reserves in the world, at 97.8 billion barrels, which represents approximately 7 percent of the total global proven oil reserves. The majority of the oil reserves are located in Abu Dhabi (approximately 94 percent), while the other six emirates in aggregate contain just 6 percent of the UAE{u2019}s oil reserves, with Dubai having the second largest reserves at 4 billion barrels. This monograph focuses on the most efficacious methods for the UAE to buttress its oil production while reducing its oil and natural gas consumption. It recommends that the UAE create a tiered strategy of increasing oil output by utilizing alternative methods of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) that would not depend upon natural gas, such as CO2 EOR, nitrogen flooding and solar thermal EOR.