Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is on track to hit its target of raising sustainable oil production capacity to 3.5 million barrels a day (b/d) in 2017, the Al-Gharbia Development Forum, held in Abu Dhabi, was told on 19 May.

“(We) have other programmes to raise gas production and our refinery (capacity) to reach 920,000 b/d,” said Saif Ahmed al-Ghafli, CEO of Al-Hosn Gas.

Adnoc’s plans call for capital investment of AED120bn ($33bn) in 2016, AED119bn in 2017, AED72bn in 2018 and AED66bn in 2019, Al-Ghafli said.

Al-Hosn Gas, a 60:40 joint venture between Adnoc and US-based Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), started gas production from the Shah field in January. The Shah sour gas project cost $10bn.

Al-Ghafli said work has started on an Adnoc housing complex in Liwa that will accommodate 1,350 people. It is set to be completed in 2017.

The Al-Gharbia Development Forum provided information to investors, entrepreneurs, developers, project owners and the wider value chain about opportunities in Al-Gharbia, which accounts for about 40 per cent of the UAE’s GDP. Topics covered included oil and gas; progress in the UAE’s nuclear energy programme; infrastructure investment plans in Al-Gharbia; education and health; banking and finance; developments in the food production and processing sector; real estate; and tourism.