Japan’s oil firm Adoc to ramp up investment in UAE

Abu Dhabi Oil Company (Adoc), a company from Japan, plans to increase investments in the UAE’s oil sector as part of its expansion strategy, a senior company executive said.

“We are planning to expand our production facilities and increase extraction rates,” Takahiko Shingai, deputy general manager and director of the development department at Adoc, told the UAE state-run Wam news agency at Adipec 2023.

Details of the expansion were not given.

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The UAE is one of Japan’s most important oil suppliers, Shingai said.

On February 2, 2011, Japan’s Adoc signed a new concession agreement to continue production of oil from three oil fields after the expiry of the former concession agreement on December 6, 2012, for a period of 30 years. The company will also undertake the development of some structures of the Hail Field, Abu Dhabi.

Adoc has been operating in the UAE for the past 50 years.

During a trip to the region in July, Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, met GCC secretary general Jasem Mohamed Al Budaiwi and agreed to resume negotiations on a free trade agreement.

Japan aims to strengthen relations with oil producers in the Middle East to ensure a stable energy supply. It relies on the GCC states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – for over 90 percent of its crude oil.

The UAE has the largest number of Japanese expatriates in the Middle East at 4,500 and hosts about 340 Japanese companies.