Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) received bids in the last quarter of 2017 from international energy companies hunting stakes in its offshore fields that produce about 25% of its oil output, according to Bloomberg.
ADNOC is presently reviewing the bids and will then decide which companies it will form a new joint venture with to develop the fields. The current arrangement expires in March but no time-frame has been set.
Plans to ramp up output in its offshore fields are part of Abu Dhabi’s efforts to raise production capacity to 3.5mn barrels a day (bpd) later this year, up more than 300,000 bpd presently. The new contracts will lock in operations at the fields for several decades. They currently produce about 700,000 bpd, with a target of 1mn bpd by 2021.
