Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is seeking final bids by tomorrow for concessions to the emirate’s largest onshore fields, said Abdullah Nasser Al Suwaidi, director general of the state-owned company.
The offers must match terms of the agreement Adnoc reached with Total SA, Al Suwaidi said at a conference in Dubai. Total is Adnoc’s first partner in a 40-year concession to fields in the biggest sheikhdom of the United Arab Emirates.
Al Suwaidi declined to say if any more bidders than Total have made final offers. The deadline is tomorrow “for those who haven’t submitted,” he said. Al Suwaidi declined to specify the terms of Adnoc’s agreement with Total, saying the fee the Paris-based company will earn for each barrel of oil it may produce is confidential.
Middle Eastern oil producers are adding capacity to pump crude for export amid an oversupply that has cut prices in half in the last six months. Abu Dhabi plans to increase total production capacity to 3.5 million b/d by the end of 2017 from about 3 million now. Adnoc announced its choice of Total as partner on January 29 and said it would “soon” name others.
Brent crude, a benchmark for more than half of the world’s oil, has dropped 25% since in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided on November 27 to keep its output target unchanged. Brent was trading at $57.95 a barrel, up 15 cents, at 6:19 a.m. in London.
The U.A.E., an OPEC member, holds about 6% of global oil reserves, with most of its oil and natural gas in Abu Dhabi. The 15 deposits in the Abu Dhabi concession will produce 1.8 million b/d in 2017 from 1.6 million barrels today, Adnoc and Total said January 29. Adnoc is spending about $22 billion on projects to increase onshore oil and gas production and export capacity, Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi, its deputy director for strategy, said in Abu Dhabi on November 11.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc was still in talks with Adnoc about participating in the concession, Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden said January 29. BP Plc, like Shell, was a partner in the group that previously operated the onshore fields and is “committed to Abu Dhabi for the long term,” Reem Mohammed, an Abu Dhabi-based spokeswoman, said January 29.
Other companies Adnoc invited to bid include China National Petroleum Corp., Japan’s Inpex Corp., Korea National Oil Corp., Norway’s Statoil ASA, Occidental Petroleum Corp. of the U.S., Russia’s OAO Rosneft and Eni SpA of Italy.
Source: Bloomberg
Source: Bloomberg
