Gulf News reported that Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is exploring its unconventional natural gas deposits as the state oil company seeks to boost output of the fuel to meet rising domestic demand.

Mr Musabbeh Al Kaabi the company's exploration division manager said that "The first question senior management asks is how much does it cost? So the first thing we will do is assess the unit cost."

ADNOC is pursuing high temperature, high pressure gas found at a depth of 16,000 feet mainly offshore. It will also explore relatively shallow source rock onshore that requires extraction techniques similar to those used for shale gas in North America, such as horizontal drilling.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are seeking to develop their gas reserves as domestic demand for the fuel in power plants and industrial development rises. The UAE is working with Occidental Petroleum to develop the USD 10 billion Shah field.

Mr Al Kaabi said that ADNOC plans to drill an appraisal well this year in its deep gas reserves to test for commerciality. Its shale gas, at a depth of 7,000 to 14,000 feet, is in the early evaluation phase and the company may drill a well this year or next as we can see strong and positive indications.

(Sourced from Gulf News)