The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has signed an agreement, awarding the exploration rights for the emirate’s offshore block 3 to a consortium led by Eni Abu Dhabi, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Italy’s multinational energy company, and PTTEP Mena, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP).
The block 3 covers an offshore area of 11,660 sq km northwest of Abu Dhabi city. New 3D seismic data has been acquired for a part of the block, which, combined with its proximity to the existing onshore oil and gas fields, suggests the concession area has promising potential.
In addition to drilling exploration and appraisal wells, the exploration phase will see Eni and PTTEP leverage and contribute financially and technically to Adnoc’s mega seismic survey, which is already acquiring seismic data within the block area.
The exploration concession agreement was signed by Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Adnoc Group CEO with Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni; and Phongsthorn Thavisin, CEO of PTTEP.
Under the terms of the agreement, Eni will operate the exploration phase of the concession, and PTTEP and Eni will collectively hold a 100 percent stake in the exploration phase, investing up to AED1.51 billion ($412 million) towards exploration and appraisal drilling, including a participation fee, to explore for and appraise oil and gas opportunities in Offshore Block 3.
"This concession award reinforces Adnoc and Eni’s growing partnership across our value chain and deepens our relationship with Thailand’s PTTEP, one of the key markets for our crude oil and products," stated Dr Al Jaber.
"This again validates our targeted approach to value-add partnerships that contribute the right combination of capital, technology, capabilities and market access to accelerate the development of Abu Dhabi’s hydrocarbon resources," he added.
On the contract win, Descalzi said: "This award follows the one achieved by the same consortium in 2019 for offshore exploration Blocks 1 and 2 and represents a further important step towards the realisation of Eni’s strategy to become a leading actor in the development and production in Abu Dhabi, a leading region for the oil and gas industry, while contributing through its expertise in exploration to add further resources and exploit all potential synergies with the surrounding fields."
"It also further strengthen our relationship with our valuable partner PPTEP. Offshore Block 3 represents a challenging opportunity that can unlock significant value thanks to exploration and appraisal of shallow and deep reservoirs," he added.
Thavisin said with this contract, the consortium will bring capabilities, experiences and technology to accelerate the development of Offshore Block 3, as well as Offshore Blocks 1 and 2, and lead to a successful discovery.
The strategic partnership has been established to jointly contribute to the petroleum development in UAE and be part of the growing industry, he added.
