Abu Dhabi intends to increase petrol shipments to Saqr port in Ras Al Khaimah within plans to boost petrol supplies to the Northern Emirates to meet soaring demand and ease pressure on its pumps following the temporary closure of some Enoc petrol stations, an oil official was reported on Sunday as saying.
Abdullah Al Dahiri, director-general of the government-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for Distribution (Adnoc-Fod), one of the largest refiners in the Middle East, said the closure of some petrol pumps in the Northern Emirates for maintenance and upgrading boosted demand at its 59 pumps in those areas by nearly 45 per cent over the past few weeks.
Besides increasing oil shipments by sea, Adnoc-Fod is also sending more tankers by land and pumping additional petrol quantities through pipelines from its refineries to the eastern town of Al Ain, where tankers are transporting more fuel to the petrol pumps in Sharjah and other Northern Emirates.
“Adnoc-Fod is on the verge of sending additional petrol vessels to Saqr port in Ras Al Khaimah…these vessels have a large capacity and the increase is intended to ease pressure on our pumps and meet rising demand for petrol, estimated at nearly 45 per cent,” Dahiri told Alittihad Arabic daily.
“We have already pumped additional quantities of petrol into the Northern Emirates ranging between 35 and 45 per cent to meet demand…we will continue sending additional supplies to the northern emirates until the situation there stabilises and the problem is completely tackled.”
Adnoc-Fod, the refining arm of Adnoc, operates nearly 194 petrol stations, including 135 in Abu Dhabi. The company is planning to set up 234 new petrol stations through the UAE by the end-2012.
Abu Dhabi is the main oil producer in the UAE, controlling more than 90 per cent of its crude and gas resources and pumping most of its oil output of nearly 2.5 million barrels per day. The emirate has a refining capacity at its Umm Nar and Ruwais of around 400,000 bpd, more than half the UAE’s total refinery output capacity of around 798,000 bpd.
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