Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said Monday it has awarded two contracts worth 12.8 billion dirhams ($3.5 billion) to South Koreas Samsung Engineering to boost output at the largest refinery in the United Arab Emirates. The contracts were signed by ADNOC Refining, a wholly owned subsidiary of ADNOC, and Samsung Engineering. The first engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded for a $3.1 billion project on flexibility in crude oil processing in Ruwais refinery. The crude flexibility project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022. It will enable the Ruwais Refinery-West plant to process up to 420,000 barrels per day of Upper Zakum crude, or similar oil grades, freeing up more exports of ADNOC’s Murban crude, which is sold at a premium. While the second EPC contract is for a 1.73 billion dirhams ($473 million) project to recover power and water, also at the Ruwais oil refinery. This project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. It will generate an additional 230 megawatts of electricity for sale and 62,400 cubic meters of water daily by capturing waste heat and upgrading four gas turbines with closed-cycle power generation technology. The signing of the contracts coincided with the visit of South Koreas President Moon Jae-in to the UAE. ADNOC’s Downstream Director Abdulaziz al-Hajri and CEO of Samsung Engineering Choi Sung-An signed the deals in the presence of Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, and Paik Ungyu, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea. "ADNOC has a long and successful history of working with Korean companies as partners in our concession areas, as contractors for our major projects and as a customer of our crude oil and refined products,” Al Jaber said. “The award of two major Engineering, Procurement and Construction [EPC] contracts reinforces the strong business relationship that exists between the UAE and Korea," Al Jaber added. "As ADNOC continues to deliver on its 2030 smart growth strategy, a number of new and exciting opportunities exist across our value chain, particularly in the downstream, which offer the potential to deepen and develop the longstanding relationship between ADNOC and its Korean counterparts," he further noted. The project will significantly contribute to reducing the environmental impact of ADNOCs refining and power generation processes as well as improving energy efficiency. The two projects represent an important development within ADNOCs efforts to enhance value in the field of gas and petrochemical refining.