The UAE is expected to achieve its full oil production capacity target more than a year ahead of schedule.

According to people familiar with the matter, Abu Dhabi National Petroleum Company may reach its production capacity target of 5 million barrels per day by the end of next year or the beginning of 2026, earlier than the company's original target of 2027. As OPEC+ will review new production quotas later this year, increased production capacity in the UAE could be a source of tension within OPEC+.

Abu Dhabi National Petroleum's initial goal was to reach 5 million barrels per day by 2030, then advance it to 2027.

OPEC+ has been limiting production for years to support the market and raise oil prices. The UAE said this month that it has raised production capacity to last year's level, and the country has always been eager to use some of its idle production capacity. On this issue, the country occasionally clashes with Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC+. Three years ago, the UAE had a major disagreement with Saudi Arabia. Before reaching a compromise, the market predicted that the UAE would probably “split” with OPEC.

The UAE's current production is about two-thirds of its production capacity. The country's economy can be said to be one of the most diversified economies in the Gulf region. It faces less pressure to maintain high oil prices, even though crude oil is still the country's key revenue. OPEC+ plans to review the current production capacity levels of member countries later this year and use this as a basis to set a production benchmark level for 2025, which is the starting point for calculating production cuts.

Ben Cahill, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said:

“The UAE is definitely not doing this to increase idle production capacity, but to produce more oil. The internal relationship of OPEC+ will gradually become strained and continue for some time.”

Additionally, Abu Dhabi National Petroleum and its partners are stepping up efforts to drill new wells in oil fields and connect production sites to existing processing plants to extract more oil from oil fields. These people asked not to be named when discussing private operations.

Abu Dhabi National Petroleum has drawn up a $150 billion spending plan, which includes speeding up the increase in oil production capacity, and wants to ensure that all this additional capacity is not idle.