The Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc), has announced record sales of petroleum products of 245 million barrels, reflecting a 5-year rolling average growth of 9 percent, despite the challenging macro-economic situation.

Saeed Al Tayer, Enoc’s vice chairman, said: "As the UAE economy grows, the demand for energy is expected to rise gradually. Therefore, it is crucial that national oil companies focus on investing in projects that contribute to the UAE’s global energy leadership and commitment to green and sustainable growth while ensuring its energy security."

Saif Humaid Al Falasi, the Group CEO, said Enoc’s pioneering and entrepreneurial attitude was more important than ever to ensure Dubai’s energy needs are met at a time of significant change.

Increasing demand coupled with a low oil price indicates the need for strategic responses centred on value-chain integration, ensuring capital discipline and maximising operational efficiency.

While we enjoy strong cash liquidity and a healthy capital structure, we will continue to focus on diversifying our revenue streams by investing in operations that are well positioned to generate sustainable growth. We intend to achieve this through an integrated development model which draws on synergies between our upstream and downstream business segments."

With the addition of Dragon Oil as an upstream segment to its operations, Enoc now has strong competencies across the entire energy value chain providing an upstream asset for Dubai, underlining its credentials in bolstering the nation’s energy security.

Over the next five years, Adnoc will focus on expanding capacities to support domestic energy demand in alignment with Dubai Plan 2021 and in preparation for Expo 2020, said Al Falasi.

This includes a 50 per cent capacity increase of Enoc’s Jebel Ali refinery to reach 210,000 barrels per day, as well as the construction of Project Falcon’s 19km jet fuel pipeline extension to Al Maktoum Airport by the end of 2018.

A key component of the group’s strategic direction is to expand the retail network within Dubai to deliver an array of offerings including non-fuel and other supplementary services. This includes ongoing renovation of major service stations in Dubai and the construction of 54 new stations by 2020, he added.-TradeArabia News Service