The UAE's state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) has awarded $2 billion worth of drilling contracts to spur the development of the Hail and Ghasha sour gas project as part of its plans to help OPEC's third-biggest producer achieve gas self-sufficiency, and after that to look to exporting the surplus. Becoming self-sufficient in gas part of its broader 'Operation 300 Billion' plan that intends to raise the contribution of the country's industrial sector to AED300 billion (US$81 billion) from the current AED133 billion within the next 10 years. This objective - itself part of the UAE's Circular Economy Policy 2021-2031 - will be achieved in large part through the creation of 13,500 industrial companies over that period, covering the manufacturing, construction, electricity, gas, mining and quarrying sectors in the first instance.