Oil and gas are often said to be the nerve of life on our planet these days. This is particularly true when we consider the economy of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE at large.

The revenues that generate from the sale and export of oil and gas represent a majority of the financial resources, and have thus contributed substantially to the country's modernization and development drive. They have been used by its leaders as a means for building a modern, well-developed state in a relatively short period.

Subsequently, the UAE's National income resources have diversified due to the wide spread of factories and farms, and the booming of commerce that was enhanced by well-designed and readily-available infrastructure and by the policy of free market and free economy.

The gas and oil industry is still the basic and most important of the UAE's industries. In the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, it is run and controlled by the Supreme Petroleum Council under the chairmanship of UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, . Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which was established in 1971, controls the gas and oil affairs in the Emirate. ADNOC is fully owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi, and is the parent company, or owner of all or majority of the shares, of 15 companies known as the "ADNOC Group of Companies". These companies are involved in oil and gas exploration and production, petrochemical industries, marine transportation, distribution of petroleum products, exploration and production services and facilities, and natural gas processing.

The two Abu Dhabi companies directly involved in natural gas industry are Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Company Ltd. (GASCO), and Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company Ltd. (ADGAS). GASCO was founded in 1978 to process the associated gas of Abu Dhabi's onshore gas and then pump it to Al-Ruwais Gas Liquefaction Plant where it is fractionated and exported. ADNOC utilises part of the GASCO-produced gas locally.

ADGAS, which is the Gulf pioneer in the field of Gas Liquefaction, was established in 1973 and started producing and exporting liquefied gas in 1977. Its Plant on Das island is unique worldwide in its ability to process both associated gas, which is a by-product of oil extraction operations, and natural gas extracted as a free product from gas reservoirs. ADGAS Plant's feedgas, comprising natural and associated kinds, comes from Abu Dhabi's offshore fields. The company's plant is comprised of three process trains. The third of these, started production in 1994 as an addition to the original two that were commissioned in 1977.When commissioned, the 3rd LNG Train was the largest of its kind in the world.

The Plant's average annual production is eight million tonnes of liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, pentane and liquid sulphur.