Energy gaint China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) has signed a lease agreement with Limitless, a Dubai World company, to set up its Middle East office at the Galleries in Downtown Jebel Ali, Dubai.

Limitless is a global integrated real estate master developer specialising in master planning large scale, balanced mixed-use communities and waterfront developments while driving innovation in urban design, architecture and engineering.

Announcing this on Tuesday, Limitless said CNPC had taken 30,000 sq ft – two entire floors – of A-grade office space at its flagship project 'The Galleries', one of Dubai’s fastest-growing business communities. More than 140 CNPC staff are based there.

CNPC is the latest in a string of global and local companies to move to The Galleries, where Siemens, Arup, L’Oreal, Ericsson, Kraft Food, SPX Corporation and dozens of other firms are already operating or in the final stages of fit-out.  
Nearly 380,000 sq ft of the available office space is now taken, said a top official.

"Tenant benefits at The Galleries include the option of a Jafza licence; an onsite Metro station, convenient location for Dubai and Abu Dhabi; and an ever-expanding selection of retailers and restaurants," explained Bahaa Abouhatab, project director at The Galleries. 

“With CNPC’s arrival, we now proudly represent a diverse range of companies from all corners of the globe including China, Japan, the US, UK, Sweden, France, Italy, India, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia as well as many others from here in the UAE, underlining The Galleries’ position as one of the region’s sought-after business locations," he added.

Wang Baoji, vice president of CNPC (Oilfield Services, Middle East), said, "The Galleries provides a unique platform for our business, and we are enjoying the benefits of the convenient facilities and services provided by Limitless and Jafza."

"We look forward to building on this relationship and to a prosperous future for our business here at The Galleries," he added.

The Galleries is on Sheikh Zayed Road, 45 minutes by car from Abu Dhabi and 200 m from a Dubai Metro station.

The development’s four commercial towers have a total 780,000 sq ft of office space, with a further 68,000 sq ft of retail space, where several restaurants, retailers and international banks including HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citibank and ADCB are open or being fitted out.

There’s also a landscaped outdoor plaza spanning 215,000 sq ft, the company said in a statement.-TradeArabia News Service