Adnoc launches 6 licensing blocks
BIDDERS FOR EXPLORATION RIGHTS MAY ALSO GET TO DEVELOP, PRODUCE FROM THEIR FINDS
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) yesterday announced six major licensing blocks totalling 30,000 square kilometres and containing “substantial” hydrocarbons for oil and gas exploration and production.
It is the first time Adnoc has operated a block licensing strategy.
Together, the six geographic blocks — two offshore, four onshore — cover an area equivalent to threequarters of the UK’s North Sea oil sector.
Dr Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and CEO of Adnoc, said successful bidders would not be selected on purely financial grounds, but on “strategic value add to the UAE, to Abu Dhabi and to Adnoc in particular”.
He added, “The exploration of these new blocks represents a significant upstream opportunity.”
The six new major licensing blocks announced by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) yesterday contain “multi-billions of barrels of oil and multi-trillions of cubic feet of gas” according to Abdul Munim Saif Al Kindy, director of Adnoc’s Upstream Directorate.
While declining to be more specific, he did say that full data would be presented to interested parties following a series of roadshows beginning in Abu Dhabi on April 23. The roadshow will continue in Europe, the US and Asia in May.
Extensive database
“Let me assure you that we have an extensive database on what’s going on in exploration in the world,” he said. “We know exactly how much this basin holds. We are very confident of the developed detail that we have already invested in — investment in seismic, core samples, in a big list of wells.”
Successful bidders for exploration rights would also have to opportunity to develop and produce from their finds, Dr Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and CEO of Adnoc, said. He added that Adnoc would gain 60 per cent of oil produced, as with its existing concessions.
Al Kindy said, “As far as rights are concerned, they are preserved for whatever time it will take for the oil to be economically extracted. We’re talking about 20 years to 40 years, but there are terms and conditions that will be specifically notified to the interested parties.”
Bids would be accepted from both state-supported and private companies, Al Jaber said. The closing date for bids will be in October, with bid winners announced before the end of this year.
Describing the block licensing strategy as a “significant milestone,” Al Jaber said, “For over 35 years our leadership has entrusted Adnoc with the task of maximising the value of Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas reserves. As a result, the economy of Abu Dhabi and the UAE has grown, and grown substantially.”
New licences
He said the new licences were part of a new approach Adnoc had been pursuing for the last two years to meet its 2030 smart growth strategy, requiring a “more profitable upstream, a more valuable downstream and a more sustainable economic supply for us.”