The UAE is seeking to increase its production capacity of crude oil to 3.5m barrels per day, according to the Gulf state’s Minister of Energy.
Speaking at the Annual Middle East Petroleum and Gas in Abu Dhabi, Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei said that the rise would contribute to maintaining stability of global oil markets. He did not give a timetable for the increased production.
“Recent events have proven that focusing on the security of energy is necessary in order to address natural disasters and geopolitical tensions as well as other unanticipated situations which occur periodically in the world,” he said.
The UAE has recently built a pipeline that will allow it to export crude from Fujairah on its southern coast.
Exports via this route would allow the Gulf state to bypass the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has repeatedly threatened to close over the last year.
OPEC member UAE currently pumps about 2.6m barrels per day. The country is the fifth-largest oil producing country in the cartel, behind Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Iran.
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