UAE produces cleanest oil barrel in the world: Top official

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UAE produces the cleanest barrel of oil in the world as it moves towards the strategic net zero goal by the year 2050, an Emirati top official said.

“In the oil and gas sector, we are making sure that we are producing the cleanest barrel in the world,” said Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy.

When less greenhouse gas emissions occur while producing oil, that is known as a clean barrel.

This came on the sidelines of the World Green Economy Summit, being held at Madinat Jumeirah. Several ministers, government officials and dignitaries have gathered to discuss climate change and the global green economy.

WGES is a platform to drive dialogue and action amongst industry stakeholders. It also helps build partnerships by connecting creative minds across different sectors, which showcases innovative solutions and leading practices to inspire change.

Al Mazrouei stressed upon the announcement made by the national oil company, ADNOC’s sustainability strategy. “ADNOC to achieve zero methane by the year 2030 and to achieve net zero by the year 2045, five years before our national target of 2050. That should give you an idea of how committed we are to our goals,” said Al Mazrouei.

Elaborating on the other sectors such as infrastructure, transportation, shipping and energy, Al Mazrouei highlighted that the UAE intends to grow green energy capacity to the level of 19.8 Giga Watt in the next 7 years.

“We recently updated the UAE energy strategy 2050 with more ambitious targets including tripling the renewable energy capacity by the year 2030, increasing the share of clean energy capacity to 30 per cent, reducing the energy consumption through improving efficiencies by up to 45 per cent by the year 2050,” said Al Mazrouei adding that these targets will be achievable through investments of up to Dhs200 billion.

In the construction industry, the minister noted that the UAE is focused on developing low-carbon building materials. “We are focused on implementing sustainable construction practices with a focus on circular economy,” said Al Mazrouei.

By the year 2050, half of the vehicles on the road to be hybrid or electric vehicles. “In the transport sector, we have planned to increase the share of electrical and hybrid vehicles to 50 percent of the total vehicles on the roads by 2050. To achieve this goal we constantly expand our network of EV charging stations,” said Al Mazrouei.

“We are probably to be the first country to put a pricing mechanism that will be announced later this year of next year incentivizing the private sector to invest in EV charging stations infrastructure,” said Al Mazrouei.

In the maritime and shipping sector, UAE will be launching the Blue Pass aimed at creating a cluster of local and international maritime organisations to exchange their services.

“We have also signed the Clydebank declaration that aims to establish green shipping corridors,” said Al Mazrouei.

The Clydebank Declaration outlines a commitment to fostering the establishment of environmentally friendly shipping corridors. This involves collaboration between nations and various stakeholders within the industry, aiming to enhance cooperative efforts both among countries and between countries.

Al Mazrouei also mentioned the UAE taking measures to develop sustainable aviation fuel and low-carbon aviation fuel for a green aviation sector.