The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the state-held oil company of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said on Monday that it would split its existing offshore oil concession into two or more concessions with new terms, and the company is in advanced talks with more than a dozen potential partners to do that.
The offshore concession, currently operated by the Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO) and expiring in March next year, will be split in order to unlock greater value and increase partnership opportunities, ADNOC said today.
The announcement came a month after ADNOC said that it would expand partnerships and possibly list minority stakes in some of its services businesses with attractive growth and investment profiles.
Now the potential partners for the ADMA-OPCO are a mix of existing concession holders in ADNOC's offshore fields and new participants, ADNOC said.
The current shareholders of the ADMA-OPCO company are BP with 14.67 percent, Total with 13.33 percent, and JODCO with a 12-percent stake. The Abu Dhabi government, via ADNOC, holds the other 60 percent.
When the concession is split, it will consist of a mix of the Lower Zakum field, Umm Shaif, Nasr, Umm Lulu and Satah Al Razboot (SARB) fields. ADNOC will keep a 60-percent stake in the new concession terms.
"As part of ADNOC's new partnership approach, we look forward to working with partners who will bring new and innovative thinking to the table. Partners who can demonstrate tangible value-add to our operations through technology, expertise, long term capital and market access, as well as a shared commitment to drive operational performance and efficiency to deliver smart growth and strong financial returns," Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Group CEO of ADNOC, said.
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ADNOC, which produces around 3 million bpd, aims to boost its production capacity to 3.5 million bpd next year, and offshore development is one of the company's strategic focuses to achieve that end.
The concession area currently operated by the ADMA-OPCO joint venture produces some 700,000 bpd now. ADNOC expects the area to have a production capacity of around 1.0 million bpd by 2021.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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