Wintershall joins Adnoc, Eni for Ghasha gas project

Wintershall has extensive experience of appraising and developing ultrasour gas resources in complex fields

Dr Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Adnoc chief executive

dubai — Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc) and Germany’s Wintershall said on Monday they would develop offshore gas and condensate fields as Wintershall widens its regional focus and the UAE firm benefits from its partner’s experience in sour gas.

Wintershall said it had signed a deal to acquire a 10 per cent stake in the Ghasha concession in Abu Dhabi with investments running into billions of dollars.

This would be alongside Adnoc as operator, and Italy’s Eni, which was awarded a 25 per cent stake earlier this month.

Contracts to develop the deposits were awarded for 40 years.

The deal builds on Adnoc’s new, integrated gas strategy aimed at unlocking value from Abu Dhabi’s reserves as the UAE moves towards gas self-sufficiency, Wintershall cited Adnoc chief executive Dr Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber as saying.

“Wintershall has extensive experience of appraising and developing ultra-sour gas resources in technically complex fields,” he said.

Wintershall has more than 40 years’ experience in production from 16 sour gas fields in Germany. Sour gas is a high-sulphide hydrocarbon that is now mostly exhausted in Germany, where Wintershall has produced 30 billion cubic metres of it and built 4 gas purification plants.

The partners envisage producing more than 40 million cubic metres per day from around the middle of the next decade, when the project could supply gas for electricity for over 2 million homes. The project could also produce over 120,000 barrels of oil per day.