In February, the UAE announced the significant discovery of 80 Tcf of in-place shallow gas resources, named Jebel Ali.
Location of the Jebel Ali gas discovery.
In February, the UAE announced the significant discovery of 80 Tcf of in-place shallow gas resources, named Jebel Ali. The resources lie within an area of 5,000 km2 between Saih Al Sidirah in Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali in Dubai. ADNOC drilled more than 10 exploration and appraisal wells to establish the discovery. The field is potentially the largest global gas discovery in the last 15 years, with the exception perhaps of the Rovuma Basin gas discoveries offshore Mozambique.
News of the discovery came on the back of ADNOC and Dubai Supply Authority (DUSUP) signing a strategic cooperation agreement to continue to explore and develop the shallow high-quality organic gas resources between the two emirates in a joint project. The shallow nature of the resource will also mean that the development costs of gas production are lower than exploiting Abu Dhabi’s sour gas resources.
Both conventional and unconventional drilling and completion technologies and methods are being used by ADNOC to access this gas. In addition, the number of drilling rigs required will be reduced by utilizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which in turn will facilitate the best productivity rates.
