Offshore staff
ABU DHABI, UAE – Eni and PTTEP have secured the two offshore blocks offered under Abu Dhabi’s first international licensing round.
Both are northwest of the Emirate. Eni will have a 70% operated stake in both Offshore Block 1 and Offshore Block 2, with PTTEP assigned 30%.
State oil companyADNOC has the right to back into 60% in the event of a commercial discovery.
The award followed endorsement byAbu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC). The partners will now work to finalize exploration and appraisal plans for Offshore Block 1.
In total, they expect to spend more than $230 million on exploration for oil and gas and appraisal of existing discoveries in the two blocks, which cover a combined area of around 8,000 sq km (3,089 sq mi).
The exploration phase runs for a maximum of nine years – if successful, the concession will be extended to 35 years for the development and production phases.
Eni and PTTEP will also co-fundBGP’s 3D offshore/onshore seismic survey, commissioned by ADNOC last year across the newly offered blocks.
The goal is to provide high-resolution 3D images of complex structures up to 25,000 ft (7,620 m) below the surface to identify potential hydrocarbon reservoirs.
Last year ADNOC awarded Eni a 10% stake in the Umm Shaif and Nasr Offshore concession; 5% of the Lower Zakum offshore concession; and 25% of theoffshore sour gas Ghasha concession.
ADNOC’s goals in opening up the country’s petroleum sector are to raise its oil production capacity to 5 MMb/d by 2030 and to allow the UAE to achieve gas self-sufficiency and potentially become a net gas exporter.
01/14/2019
