Oil capacity to rise to 3m barrels per day in 2013

The UAE's oil production capacity is forecast to increase to 3 million barrels a day (bpd) in 2013 as a number of projects come online, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest oil market report.

The production capacity increase will come from the "expansion of Umm Shaif, both the Lower and Upper Zakum fields plus other enhanced recovery projects onshore," said the IEA, which advises 28 nations on energy policy.

The UAE's oil production capacity in 2010 was 2.7 million bpd, the IEA said. UAE Ministry of Energy officials weren't immediately available for comment on the IEA report. The UAE increased its supply in December by 30,000 bpd to 2.32 million bpd. In 2010, the UAE's oil output rose by 1.6 per cent to 2.31 million bpd on average.

"The production increases will help global oil prices to hold the line at around $120 (Dh440.6) a barrel. The supply in the global oil markets hasn't increased by much and they must increase as the demand-supply gap is widening," said Dalton Garis, Associate Professor of Economics and Petroleum Market Behaviour at Abu Dhabi's Petroleum Institute.

•1.6% increase in the UAE's crude output in 2010

•2.7m UAE's crude output in 2010