The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and French oil major Total have renewed the 40-year Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) Concession Agreement for onshore oilfields in the emirate
Effective 1 January 2015, the deal covers Abu Dhabi’s 15 principal onshore oilfields that represent more than half of the emirate’s production, ADNOC said. Total would be holding a 10 per cent stake in the concession after the renewed deal. The French oil major owned 9.5 per cent stake earlier.
According to the state-owned company, nine Asian and Western firms have bid for stakes in the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) concession after a deal with oil majors including ExxonMobil, Shell, Total and BP, dating back to the 1970s, expired in January 2014.
After the 40-year deal that expired last year, ADNOC took over 100 per cent of the concession. Shell, Total and BP renewed their bids for the concession, company sources told Reuters.
Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said, “Total is honoured to be the first international oil company to be chosen and to be entrusted with the mission of technical leader on two major groups of fields.”
According to ADNOC, Total presented the best technical and commercial offers for the bid. More companies will be added to the concession soon, the emirati company revealed.
USA’s Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Italy’s ENI, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Norway’s Statoil, Japan’s Inpex and Korea National Oil Corporation have also bid for the new deal.
The fields produce 1.6mn bpd and are expected to reach 1.8mn bpd from 2017, Total and ADNOC have said.
Total also has stakes in several other concessions and companies in Abu Dhabi, including a 75 per cent stake in the Abu Al Bu Khoosh field and 13.3 per cent in Abu Dhabi Marine (ADMA).
