The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed a technical agreement with US-based Occidental Petroleum to develop the al-Hail and Ghasha oilfields located offshore Abu Dhabi, UAE
The agreement was signed by Mohammed Butti Al Qubaisi, director of exploration and production at ADNOC and Edward Lowe, president of Occidental Oil and Gas International.
According to ADNOC, Occidental Petroleum will cooperate on the programme and will spend US$500mn to run 3D seismic surveys, drilling appraisal wells and engineering studies to evaluate development prospects of the fields by 2017.
Saoud Mubarak AlMehairbi, manager of exploration division at ADNOC noted that the technical evaluation agreement, will further promote mutual cooperation between the two companies.
"Under this agreement Occidental Petroleum will also organise a number of training courses to provide human resources development opportunities to ADNOC staff focusing on selected areas such as geology and technical areas,” added AlMehairbi.
ADNOC holds a 70 per cent share in the oilfields development venture in Abu Dhabi, while Occidental Petroleum holds the remaining 30 per cent.
