Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is seeking final bids on Tuesday for concessions to the emirate’s largest onshore fields, said Abdullah Nasser Al Suwaidi, director general of the state-owned company.
The offers must match terms of the agreement Adnoc reached with Total SA, Al Suwaidi said at a conference in Dubai, Bloomberg reported. Total is Adnoc’s first partner in a 40-year concession to fields in the biggest sheikhdom of the United Arab Emirates.
Middle Eastern oil producers are adding capacity to pump crude for export amid an oversupply that has cut prices in half in the last six months. Abu Dhabi plans to increase total production capacity to 3.5 million barrels a day by the end of 2017 from about 3 million now. Adnoc announced its choice of Total as partner on Jan. 29 and said it would “soon” name others.
The UAE, an OPEC member, holds about 6 percent of global oil reserves, with most of its oil and natural gas in Abu Dhabi. The 15 deposits in the Abu Dhabi concession will produce 1.8 million barrels a day in 2017 from 1.6 million barrels today, Adnoc and Total said Jan. 29. Adnoc is spending about $22 billion on projects to increase onshore oil and gas production and export capacity, Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi, its deputy director for strategy, said in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 11.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc was still in talks with Adnoc about participating in the concession, Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden said Jan. 29. BP Plc, like Shell, was a partner in the group that previously operated the onshore fields and is “committed to Abu Dhabi for the long term,” Reem Mohammed, an Abu Dhabi-based spokeswoman, said Jan. 29.
Other companies Adnoc invited to bid include China National Petroleum Corp., Japan’s Inpex Corp., Korea National Oil Corp., Norway’s Statoil ASA, Occidental Petroleum Corp. of the US, Russia’s OAO Rosneft and Eni SpA of Italy.
