The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has awarded a 5% stake to LUKOIL in Ghasha ultra-sour gas concession, Pipeline Oil and Gas Magazine reported.

Moreover, the managers of ADNOC, LUKOIL, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) inked a framework agreement for more potential future cooperation in the Ghasha concession.

“The concession award, as well as the framework agreement, reflect the strong and strategic bilateral ties between the UAE and Russia and highlight the important role of energy cooperation in strengthening the relations between our two countries,” Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC CEO, said.

Under the terms of the concession award, LUKOIL will invest around $190 million as a signing fee for the concession.

“LUKOIL has extensive experience in offshore fields, both independently and in consortia with other major international companies. We are glad to enter the project in the UAE with such a significant resource base and with such experienced partners,” Vagit Alekperov, LUKOIL President, noted.

“The large-scale project to develop the Ghasha Concession opens up great investment opportunities for RDIF and LUKOIL.

The agreement with ADNOC reflects a high level of energy cooperation with the UAE and confidence in the expertise of partners from the Russian Federation to help develop one of the major natural resources projects in the Middle East,” Kirill Dmitriev, CEO RDIF, commented.

It is worth noting that the Ghasha mega project is expected to produce more than 1.5 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscf/d) of natural gas by 2025.