US, EUROPE OIL FIRMS MAY WIN ABU DHABI RENEWAL
paris — The largest US and European oil companies have a “good chance” of winning renewals for Abu Dhabi crude-oil concessions, according to UAE Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohamed Faraj Fares Al Mazrouei.
“Unless they aren’t aggressive in giving us value, I think they will have a very good chance,” the minister told reporters on Friday at an oil conference in Paris. “They are the best in understanding the field because they have been there for 70 years and we hope they will be among the winners.”
Exxon Mobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total lost their rights as shareholders in the company operating Abu Dhabi’s onshore oil fields after their joint venture expired at the start of the year. The
What’s important is that it’s fair to the newcomers as it is to the previous shareholders
Suhail bin Mohamed Faraj Fares Al Mazrouei
expired partnership between the international companies and staterun Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, or Adnoc, accounted for about 1.5 million barrels a day of Murban crude, the UAE’s main blend.
Adnoc took full control of the unit operating the fields while completing a bidding process to award new concessions. The minister on Friday didn’t give a timeframe for when a decision would be reached.
“No one is guaranteed a seat,” he said. “It’s a bidding. We wish everyone good luck, especially our legacy partners.”
“There is a process... What’s important is that it’s fair to the newcomers as it is to the previous shareholders. This is a lifetime exercise and we have to do it right.”
Abu Dhabi holds most of the reserves in the UAE, which pumped 2.8 million barrels a day in March, or 9.3 per cent of oil supplied by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to data from the International Energy Agency. —