The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is set to assume full control of the Adco oil concession as their previous partnership with oil giants ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and BP expires, new agency Reuters are reporting.
At present Adnoc holds a majority 60% share in Adco, which will increase to 100% on 11th January 2014. The concession includes the Asab, Bab, Bu Hasa, Sahil, Shah and Northeast Bab fields.
Adnoc had been working with ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and BP on the onshore oilfields for decades. However, on the 11th January 2014 all four of the 9.5% stakes held by the western oil companies will expire, along with the 2% stake held by Portugese firm Partex.
“The foreign partners will not retain their interests any longer. ADNOC will hold 100 percent of ADCO,” one industry source told Reuters.
However, staff from the International Oil Companies will remain in the fields operating alongside the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations. This is intended to ensure that the Opec producer will stay on track to meet ambitious production targets of 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2019 – an increase from 3 million bpd today. The onshore fields are expected to provide 300,000 bpd of that increase, according to news website The National.
Over the next few months Adnoc will review bids from 10 companies, including Italy’s Eni, Norway’s Statoil, Korea National Oil Corporation, China National Petroleum Company, Russia’s Rosneft and Occidental of the United States.
“There’s a lot of effort being put into thinking out what Adco will look like in the next 25 to 40 years. It’s understandable, given what goes into restructuring the operation idea, that you do an interim plan for the rest of year. No one’s interested in ending what works now,” Christopher Gunson, a lawyer at the American law firm Pillsbury, told The National.
Adnoc’s recommendation is due in February or March 2014 and will need to be ratified by the Supreme Petroleum Council.
