It’s back to the future for Adnoc, which is switching out Upper Zakum crude for Murban at its Ruwais refining complex. Murban was traditionally the baseload feedstock for Adnoc’s refineries, but it has largely been replaced by the heavier Upper Zakum crude at the 417,000 b/d Ruwais West refinery following the completion of the $3.5bn Crude Flexibility Project (CFP) upgrades in late-2023.
For Adnoc, Murban is more than just a crude oil. It is Adnoc’s blue-chip crude export grade, with the discovery of the onshore Bab field in 1960 through the Murban-3 well a landmark moment which helped launch Abu Dhabi’s oil sector on its current trajectory. CEO Sultan al-Jaber presented US President Donald Trump with a sample last month during his visit to Abu Dhabi; “this is the highest quality oil there is on the planet,” responded the US President. (CONTINUED - 1673 WORDS)
