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Adnoc awards offshore blocks to consortium

abu dhabi - The two firms must invest at least Dh844 million to explore for oil and gas

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has awarded two offshore blocks to a consortium led by Italy's multinational energy company Eni and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) after a competitive bidding round.

The two blocks in the northwest of Abu Dhabi - Offshore 1 and Offshore 2 - are the first blocks to be awarded among the geographical areas that were offered for commercial bidding by Adnoc in April 2018, as part of Abu Dhabi's first competitive open block licensing strategy. The award of the two blocks was endorsed by Abu Dhabi's Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC).

Under the terms of the agreements, Eni will operate the concessions and PTTEP and Eni will both hold a 100 per cent stake in the exploration phase, investing at least Dh844 million to explore for oil and gas, and appraise the existing discoveries in Offshore Block 2. At the same time, the exploration and appraisal plans for the Offshore Block 1 will be finalised. The two blocks cover a combined area of approximately 8,000 square kilometres.

Upon successful exploration - and having established the commerciality of the discovered resources - Eni and PTTEP will, together, be granted the opportunity to develop and produce any discoveries, with Adnoc retaining the option to hold a 60 per cent stake in the production phase.

The concession agreements were signed by Dr Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO; Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni; and Phongsthorn Thavisin, president and CEO of PTTEP.

- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com