UAE - Mubasher: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has awarded a consortium led by Eni Abu Dhabi and PTTEP MENA the rights to explore for oil and gas opportunities in Abu Dhabi’s Offshore Block 3.
Under the agreement signed with ADNOC, PTTEP and Eni will own 100% stake in the exploration phase, investing up to AED 1.51 billion ($412 million) in the exploration and appraisal drilling, according to a press release on Monday.
Eni Abu Dhabi is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Italy’s Eni, while PTTEP MENA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP).
Eni and PTTEP have won the exploration agreement in Abu Dhabi’s second competitive block bid round launched by ADNOC in 2019, offering a set of major onshore and offshore blocks.
After discovering oil and gas during the exploration phase, Eni and PTTEP will have the right to develop and produce the commercial discoveries under a 35-year production concession.
Meanwhile, ADNOC could hold a 60% stake in the production phase of the concession.
The UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Group CEO, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, 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 and the UAE’s stable and reliable investment environment."
The CEO of Eni, Claudio Descalzi, commented: "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 realization 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."
