China, UAE oil firms sign $330m worth oilfield development project

ABU DHABI- A subsidiary of China's oil and gas giant signed on Sunday a contract worth $330 million with an onshore petroleum firm in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirate (UAE), for a development project at the UAE's southern Mender oilfield.

The joint project between China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation (CPECC) and Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) will help boost ADCO's daily crude production from 1.4 million barrels to 1.8 million by 2017.

Hou Haojie, general manager of CPECC, said the Mender project, which follows CPECC's successful work on programs to develop the emirate's crude pipeline and Asab oilfield, has demonstrated his company's growing market reputation and strong global competitiveness.

He also hoped that the two companies could work closely on the Mender project, and expand their cooperation in the future.

The Mender oilfield sits in a desert area more than 300 km south of Abu Dubai, one of the country's seven emirates, and also capital of the UAE. It has a production capacity of about 20,000 barrels on a daily basis.

According to the contract, the Chinese company will be responsible to build oil gathering stations, pipelines, power transmission lines, as well as sewage systems.

CPECC is affiliated with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China's largest oil and gas producer and supplier, and has a history of working its counterparts in the UAE.

Back in late 2008, it won a contract worth $3.29 billion in a partnership with UAE's state-run international petroleum investment company on the Abu Dhabi crude oil pipeline project, also known as the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline.

The project, which became fully operational in July 2012, aims to secure supply of crude oil, and reduce oil transportation through the Straits of Hormuz, one of the world's most strategic waterways for global crude trade.