PETROMAL, THE OIL and gas explorer funded by Abu Dhabi, aims to take advantage of its cash-rich position and turmoil in the world energy markets to build resources and output almost from scratch. The Iraqi government's sale of oil and gas development rights is one of the opportunities Petromal seeks to exploit to gain access to supplies and build technical expertise, chief executive officer Radhwan Al Sa'adi said in an interview.

LEAST AFFECTED BY the current global economic meltdown, the Saudi petrochemical companies are poised to make an aggressive entry into more foreign markets at the expense of their counterparts in Europe.

OMAN HAS NO plans to cut oil production this year, said a top oil and gas ministry official after the country managed to arrest six-year production decline. "We plan to increase the daily production of crude oil and condensates from 757,000 bpd in 2008 to 805,000 bpd this year,

ABU DHABI NATIONAL Oil Company (ADNOC) expects to save 30 per cent on the cost of developing its major oil and gas projects because of lower construction costs. In the keynote address at the Energy Exchange’s Gas Arabia conference in Abu Dhabi recently, Ismail al Ramahi, the manager of ADNOC’s gas process division, said the company would press ahead with energy development during the global economic downturn, but at much lower cost than it previously expected.“