The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced the award of a contract worth up to US$519mn (AED1.9bn) to further expand the scope of the three-dimensional (3D) onshore and offshore seismic survey underway in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi
The contract was awarded to BGP Inc, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Company (CNPC), represented in the UAE by Al Masaood Oil Industry Supplies & Services Co.
The contract brings the survey area to 85,000 sq km, with 50% of the award value flowing back into the UAE's economy. The larger scope enables ADNOC to continue their mission in identifying new hydrocarbon resources across Abu Dhabi following the recent discovering of recoverable oil resources and reserves announced by Abu Dhabi's Supreme Petroleum Council.
The seismic survey also supported the discovery of the conventional oil and gas reserves and unconventional gas resources added to ADNOC's portfolio in 2019.
Under ADNOC's In-Country Value (ICV) program, 50% of the award value will flow back into the UAE's economy.
Yaser Saeed Al Mazrouei, ADNOC Upstream executive director, said, “This award builds on the solid progress we are making in executing the world’s largest combined 3D seismic survey which is an important part of our strategy to accelerate the exploration and development of Abu Dhabi’s hydrocarbon resources.”
The contract widens the scope of the current seismic mega survey across coastal areas, islands and shallow water, using cableless equipment and environmentally-friendly seismic sources to capture high-resoluton 3D images of subsurface structures. These images will pinpoint potential hydrocarbon reservoirs and the data will then be leveraged by exploration partners in Abu Dhabi's first block bid round.
Since July 2018, ADNOC has recorded almost 60% progress in fulfilling the initial scope of the seismic survey, which is on track to be completed by 2024. In November 2019, the SPC announced hydrocarbon reserves reached 7 billion STB in oil and 58 trillion standard cubic feet of conventional gas.
