{
  "id": 7295751,
  "title": "UAE’s oil potential boosted by promising shale discovery",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/uaes-oil-potential-boosted-by-promising-shale-discovery",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-14T10:00:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hellenic Shipping News",
    "slug": "hellenic-shipping-news",
    "url": "https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/uaes-oil-potential-boosted-by-promising-shale-discovery/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is boosting its oil potential with a promising discovery of shale, specifically the Shilaif Formation in the country's Upper Cretaceous. This unconventional oil discovery, announced by ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) years ago, is considered one of the most promising among several early-stage shale plays. Shilaif's geology and scale are significant, with ADNOC estimating up to 22 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. The UAE has supported international E&P companies, like EOG Resources, granting them concessions to explore the area. These concessions, which involve a combination of tax and royalty terms rather than production sharing contracts, align with the UAE's approach to unconventional projects. EOG Resources, known for its success in finding new unconventional plays, successfully drilled two wells in Shilaif in June, each producing over 25,000 barrels of oil in the first 30 days. The wells' productivity is particularly notable given their one-mile laterals, which is half the typical lateral length of US unconventional wells. The UAE's supportive commercial framework, including the use of locally available drilling services, could lead to further cost reductions and increased drilling efficiency. However, more wells are needed to confirm the play's resource quality and commerciality. If successful, Shilaif could help the UAE expand its oil capacity beyond the current 4.85 million barrels per day (mb/d) to a target of 5 mb/d by 2027. The UAE has committed to investing $145 billion in its upstream oil sector over the next decade to support this growth.",
  "summary": "International shale is one of the emerging themes attracting upstream investment. With the incredible growth in US tight oil over the last decade drawing to a close, unconventional explorers, both Majors and Independents, are looking beyond the Americas for the ‘next big thing.’ In A hydrocarbon copy we singled out Shilaif in the United Arab ...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}