ABU DHABI // An oil and gas exhibition that chronicles the exploration and production of the capital's hydrocarbons industry is to open in November.
The showcase will open as a temporary exhibition at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec). Its story will begin with the exploration for oil in the 1930s, when the collapse of the pearling industry brought poverty to the area.
It will also feature old photographs and films, old machinery and first-hand accounts from oil executives. Many exhibits will be on public display for the first time.
The exhibition will be the base for a "significant community project", said Fareed Alsayed Abdulla, its joint curator.
"Working with other local and international energy companies and participants in Adipec, we aspire to tell the story of oil and gas in the UAE and wider region for the benefit of present and future generations," said Mr Abdulla, who is also a senior vice president for the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations.
Oil was discovered in 1958 at Umm Shaif, near Das Island, an occasional refuge for seafarers in high winds that is 166km north-west of Abu Dhabi city.
The first export was a shipment of 254,544 barrels of crude that left Abu Dhabi for Japan in July 1962.
Today, the UAE has about 98 billion barrels in reserve.
"A great deal of documentation on the UAE's oil and gas heritage already exists," said Mr Kimon Alexandrou, the Adipec exhibitions director. "Working with Abu Dhabi's oil and gas subsidiaries and our partners in Adipec, our role will be to bring together as much of this priceless detail as we can to educate exhibition visitors and the local community about the industry's transformative effect on UAE society and the significant role the UAE plays in meeting the world's energy needs."
Adipec runs from November 11 to 14 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.