Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi, Director-General, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC): Interview

Interview: Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi

What can be done to further encourage operating partners to deploy proprietary technologies in their energy production?

ABDULLA NASSER AL SUWAIDI: ADNOC aims to encourage and protect the intellectual rights of operating partners, while pursuing and employing the latest technologies in its activities for the benefit of ADNOC and its affiliates. We aim to maximise oil and gas production, while adhering to the highest standards of safety, health and environmental protection. For example, maximising oil production using enhanced oil recovery, intelligent oil field technology and the employment of artificial islands are mechanisms that have been gaining momentum because they aim to increase recovery and thus maximise returns on investment.

A recent example of the continuous deployment of proven technologies in operations was the drilling of the Heir Delma 9 offshore well, the first high-pressure, high-temperature field in Abu Dhabi with full execution of hydraulic fracturing, which was a success in terms of increasing productivity. The operation involved full coordination between ADNOC and two of its subsidiaries: the National Drilling Company as a service provider and the Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company as an operating company.

With the hydrocarbons sector’s rising risk profile, how is ADNOC developing corresponding policies to ensure health and safety standards?

AL SUWAIDI: ADNOC operations require systems that detect, identify, manage and effectively respond to foreseeable emergencies and possible crises. Such requirements have been designed to enable the company’s operations to return to full function, smoothly and safely, as soon as possible.

Additionally, our corporate teams have been strategically established and are in place at all corresponding sites and locations across Abu Dhabi, with two major oil spill response centres located at Mussafah on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and Ruwais in the Western Region, in addition to a response outpost at Al Dabbiya and a response vessel anchored near and linking the two islands of Zirku and Das, for quick initial response and reaction.

ADNOC strives to create and maintain an injury-free work environment, while applying robust operating practices and strict maintenance measures across the company’s sites and facilities. Accordingly, hazard identification, risk assessment and implementation of risk control measures based on the appropriate risk control hierarchy represent a key factor to the management of occupational safety in the company and its affiliates. These requirements pose a pivotal base of reference for the whole HSE Group’s management system.

Lastly, ADNOC continues to establish an inventory of all ongoing and anticipated issues stemming from its activities that may pose health and safety risks. The implementation of effective control measures then takes place to reduce or eliminate risk levels, and ADNOC continues to pursue regular review and assessment of these control measures.

Has the joint venture with Masdar helped solve the issues of technology and financing often associated with carbon capture and storage (CCS)?

AL SUWAIDI: ADNOC and Masdar maintain several areas of cooperation and share points of common interest in reducing the oil and gas industry’s carbon footprint on the environment, and CCS is no exception. The collaboration between ADNOC and Masdar will serve both companies in achieving their mission to help promote Abu Dhabi’s image as an environmentally conscious emirate. The cooperation also supports the long-term thinking needed to achieve the goals of Abu Dhabi Vision 2030.

We value our collaboration with Masdar and are proud to contribute to the goal of reducing carbon emissions and using non-hydrocarbons gases as an enhanced oil recovery mechanism from oil fields.