The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has awarded exploration rights for Abu Dhabi’s Offshore Block 3 to a consortium led by Eni and Thailand company PTTEP.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has awarded exploration rights for Abu Dhabi’s Offshore Block 3 to a consortium led by Eni and Thailand company PTTEP.
Dr Al Jaber, CEO, Adnoc, said: ‘Despite volatile market conditions, we are making very good progress in delivering Abu Dhabi’s second competitive block bid round, underscoring our world-class resource potential. We continue to welcome partners that share our vision to sustainably unlock value from our hydrocarbon resources.’
Eni will operate the exploration phase of the concession, and PTTEP and Eni will collectively hold a 100% stake in the exploration phase, investing up to $412 million towards exploration and appraisal drilling, including a participation fee, to explore for oil and gas in Offshore Block 3.
Following a commercial discovery, Eni and PTTEP will have the right to develop such commercial discoveries. Adnoc has the option to hold a 60% stake in the production phase of the concession. The term of the production phase is 35 years from the start of the exploration phase.
Offshore Block 3 covers an offshore area of 11,660 km2 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 great potential.
Eni and PTTEP will contribute financially and technically to ADNOC’s mega seismic survey, which is already acquiring seismic data within the block area. This world’s largest 3D seismic survey is capturing high-resolution 3D images of the complex geology at ultra-deep locations below the surface.
In January 2019, a consortium led by Eni and PTTEP was awarded two offshore blocks in Abu Dhabi’s first competitive bid round. The consortium continues to explore for oil and gas in the blocks known as Offshore 1 and Offshore 2, northwest of Abu Dhabi city.
Claudio Descalzi said: ‘This award follows the one achieved by the same consortium in 2019 for offshore exploration Blocks 1 and 2 and strengthens 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.’
Adnoc launched Abu Dhabi’s second competitive block bid round in 2019, offering onshore and offshore blocks, on behalf of the SPC. Based on existing data from detailed petroleum system studies, seismic surveys, exploration and appraisal wells data, estimates suggest the blocks in this second bid round hold multiple billion barrels of oil and multiple trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
This award comes after the SPC announced the discovery of recoverable unconventional oil resources estimated at 22 billion stock tank barrels (STB) and an increase in conventional oil reserves of 2 billion STB which boosted the UAE’s conventional reserves to 107 billion STB.
Adnoc has also recently awarded an onshore block to Occidental.
