Sheikh Saif bin Zayed inspects Adnoc’s digital command centre

He was welcomed by Dr Sultan Al Jaber and other senior company executives

Saif bin Zayed reviews the Panorama digital control centre at Adnoc headquarters in Abu Dhabi. Wam

Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, inspected Adnoc's Panorama Digital Command Centre as part of his visit to the company's headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

The centre, which gathers data from Adnoc group companies while leveraging artificial intelligence and big data, has assisted Adnoc in generating “billions of dirhams worth of business”, the Abu Dhabi Government Media Office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Sheikh Saif was welcomed by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc, as well as other senior company executives.

As part of his visit, Sheikh Saif examined the progress made in the X100 Acceleration Programme, which represents the new phase of the qualitative leap implemented by Adnoc to prepare for the future.

He commended Adnoc for driving economic growth and diversity in the UAE, and its major contribution to the regional and global energy industry.

Sheikh Saif's visit reflects the “ongoing interest and support to the company and its staff”, Dr Al Jaber said.

“Thanks to this support, we are still implementing our strategic plans, expediting our work to meet the changes in the energy industry, thus promoting UAE and Adnoc's status as a reliable supplier of affordable and low-emission energy sources,” he said.

Oil and gas companies in the Middle East are increasingly turning to technology to improve production and operational efficiency.

Spending on automation within the sector is projected to increase by 7.5 per cent to nearly $25 billion by 2025, from $17.17 billion in 2020, as companies employ AI, the Internet of Things and robotics, according to consultancy Frost & Sullivan.

In 2017, Adnoc opened two innovation centres: Thamama and Panorama. The two centres use data to drive down costs.

The Panorama centre, which is among Adnoc's several digital transformation initiatives, can display 250,000 immediate data points from all operational sites, thus ensuring full data complementarity among onshore and offshore facilities, the statement said.

Sheikh Saif also visited Adnoc's operations and control room, as well as the crisis management centre.

He surveyed their role in enhancing readiness and preparedness according to the latest advanced technical systems used by the company.

Adnoc plans to significantly increase its investment in hydrocarbons and raise its output capacity to 5 million barrels per day by 2030.

The UAE is investing Dh600 billion ($163.5 billion) in clean and renewable energy projects over the next three decades as it aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Last week, the Emirates signed a strategic partnership with the US to invest $100 billion to produce 100 gigawatts of clean energy globally by 2035.

The UAE is also looking to boost the production of hydrogen, which is produced from both renewable energy and natural gas and is expected to become a critical fuel as economies and industries transition to a low-carbon world.

Globally, the hydrogen industry is expected to be worth $183 billion by 2023, up from $129 billion in 2017, according to Fitch Solutions. French investment bank Natixis estimates that investment in hydrogen will exceed $300 billion by 2030.