Museum shows UAE oil industry’s growth

Titled the Adipec Museum, this unique collection of photographs, equipment, maps and documents illustrates the history of the local oil industry from its humble beginnings with the signing of the Red Line Agreement in 1928 to the present day.

Hosted in an outdoor marquee at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, the 500-square-metre museum also has a chronological display of photographs of the Abu Dhabi region dating back to the 1930s. The photographs illustrate the growth of Abu Dhabi in the last 70 years — from a modest fishing community struggling in the wake of a dwindling pearl diving industry into the 8^th largest oil exporter in the world.

“The Adipec Museum is the first of its kind in the Middle East and offers a perspective to visitors on how far Abu Dhabi has come because of the development of oil,” said Kimon Alexandrou, commercial director at dmg::events, the organisers of Adipec.

“Every photograph or display is rooted in a specific historic context and shows that oil and gas has promoted diversity and ensured the prosperity of the UAE.” Curated with the guidance and support of Fareed Alsayed Abdulla, senior vice-president (Bab & Gas) at Adco, the Adipec Museum opened to visitors on November 11.

The Adipec Museum was assembled over the past year and offers visitors a unique opportunity to look at materials that have never been seen before in a single public display. The curators poured over 17,000 photographs from 15 local and international archives.

Archive material from Adnoc, the UAE Ministry of Energy, Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company, among others, was loaned for the display. Authors, academics and local dignitaries were also interviewed in the process of curating the museum, along with current and former employees of the UAE oil and gas industry.

— business@khaleejtimes.com