UAE

THE UAE is no exception to the trend for Middle East oil producers to ramp up production capacity. The emirates' oil giant, Abu Dhabi, is preparing to invest more than $5bn on expanding production capacity to more than 3m b/d, from 2.3m b/d by 2006. Abu Dhabi National Oil (Adnoc) is pushing the expansion to meet rampant demand from the Asian market, in particular China. Most of the increase is due to come from the offshore Upper Zakum field, where capacity is due to rise from 0.55m b/d to 1.2m b/d. Last year, contracts worth over $1bn were awarded to international contractors for expanding onshore oil capacity. Development at Bab and other fields is expected to add some 200,000 b/d to overal