Japan’s Inpex Corporation has acquired a five per cent stake in developing onshore oilfields in Abu Dhabi, operated by Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO)
With this contract, Inpex Corporation has become the first Asian company to win the contract, referred to as the Abu Dhabi Concession.
Inpex Corporation president and CEO Toshiaki Kitamura said, “This new acquisition in Abu Dhabi, positioned as one of the core areas for Inpex’s petroleum development and production operations, is highly significant in terms of the company’s growth strategies, and also largely contributes to the long-term, stable supply of energy to Japan.”
The Concession comprises 15 principal onshore oilfields. Currently, 11 of them are in production while four remain undeveloped. When production values are combined, the functioning oilfields produce 1.6mn barrels of oil per day (boepd), making them one of the largest oil deposits in the world.
Earlier in January, French oil producer Total was awarded a 10 per cent share in the Abu Dhabi Concession after the company paid US$2.2bn for the same.
The oilfields operator ADCO is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which holds a 60 per cent share. Several oil majors are bidding for stakes in the Abu Dhabi Concession such as Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Occidental Petroleum, Statoil, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Korea National Oil Corporation and ENI.
