Eni, in collaboration with BP, has announced that it has signed an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) with the Ministry of Oil and Gas of Oman for Block 77 in central Oman and has also concluded a strategic partnership with ADNOC
Eni stated that Block 77 covers a total area of more than 2,700 sq km. BP and Eni will each hold a 50 per cent interest in the EPSA, with Eni acting as operator during the exploration phase.
The agreement for this significant new exploration opportunity follows from the block agreement heads that were signed in January 2019.
Block 77, located 30 km east of the BP-operated Block 61, contains the already-producing Khazzan gas project as well as the currently under development Ghazeer project.
Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive, said, “We look forward to working with the government and Eni to continue to explore and develop the country’s resources and secure its long-term gas production.”
Eni said in another statement that it has closed a strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi’s National Oil Company (ADNOC), announced in January, through which Eni acquired a 20 per cent share interest in ADNOC refining.
The partners, which include Austria’s OMV, also set up a new joint venture for trading.
ADNOC Refining refines more than 922,000 bbl per day of crude in its refineries based in Ruwais and Abu Dhabi. The transaction is one of the world’s largest in the refining business and reflects the scale, quality and growth potential of the assets of ADNOC Refining.
The company added that Ruwais is the world’s fourth-largest single-site refinery and is the focus of further expansion and integration to develop the world’s largest single-site refining and petrochemical complex. Expanding its Ruwais refining and petrochemical operations supports ADNOC as it evolves to become a leading global downstream player.
The final cash price is approximate US$3.24bn.
ADNOC, Eni and OMV have now incorporated a new trading joint venture in Abu Dhabi Global Market with the same shareholding as in ADNOC Refining. Trading is expected to start in 2020 when all the necessary processes, procedures and systems are in place.
Eni and OMV will provide ADNOC with know-how, operational experience and support to accelerate the development of the joint venture, enabling ADNOC and its partners to optimise their systems and better manage their international product flows
With this transaction, Eni enters the UAE downstream sector and increases its global refining capacity by 35 per cent. It follows the company’s strategy of making Eni’s overall portfolio more geographically diversified and more balanced along the value chain.
