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DJ - Abu Dhabi To Boost Onshore Oil Capacity To 1.8M B/D
(This item was originally published Monday.)
ABU DHABI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Abu Dhabi plans to raise sustainable onshore crude oil production capacity to 1.8 million barrels a day by 2017 from 1.4 million barrels now, partly by investing in the development of up to 12 so-called marginal oil reservoirs, an official said Monday.
Abu Dhabi Co. for Onshore Oil Operations., or Adco, is moving ahead with long-term plans to boost oil output from the emirate's onshore fields, with $5.3 billion being invested in several fields by 2012 despite the global economic downturn, the company's general manager, Abdel Munim Saif Al Kindi, said at an industry event Monday.
Additional spending will be required to boost sustainable oil production capacity by 400,000 barrels a day to the company's 2017 target, Al Kindi said.
"We have proceeded with our plans to reach 1.8 million (barrels a day)," Al Kindi said. "These are long-term plans, and there's a large awareness that this is a cyclical industry."
Abu Dhabi holds almost all the crude reserves in the United Arab Emirates, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' fourth-largest producer at about 2.26 million barrels a day in January, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey.
As part of its plans, Adco will bring on stream 225,000 barrels a day of crude capacity from Abu Dhabi's Asab, Sahel and Shah fields by 2012, he said. Another 175,000 barrels will be added from the Northeast Bab fields by 2017.
AWARD
Under the program, Adco is set to award "within the next few weeks" engineering, procurement and construction, or EPC, contracts to develop the Bab and Qusawirah fields worth $1.5 billion, and the Badr Qamzan field worth $300 million, Al Kindi said.
The development of marginal oil fields--the feasibility of which depends on economic conditions and the availability of technologies--are expected to account for as much as 250,000 barrels a day of overall capacity by 2017, he added.
"I can reaffirm that if the 1.8 (million barrels a day) is to be sustainable on the plateaus we're projecting today, there will be a need to access those tight and marginal fields," Al Kindi said.
Adco has the concession for onshore and shallow waters in Abu Dhabi. The company is 60%-owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., or Adnoc, with Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN), BP PLC (BP.LN), ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) and Total S.A. (TOT) each holding 9.5% stakes and Partex Oil and Gas the remaining 2%.
Adco's concession expires in 2014 and the Abu Dhabi government has yet to decide on whether to renew it or to change its structure. Oil companies seeking concession contracts, will need to cater to Adco's plans to develop marginal fields and reservoirs, Al Kindi said.
"It needs to feature in any agreement. Whoever Adnoc takes on as partners needs to develop those thoughts ... bring down the costs," he said, adding that the unit technical cost of these fields is above $10 a barrel.
-By Nour Malas, Dow Jones Newswires, +97150 2890223; nour.malas@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2010 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 08, 2010 22:44 ET (03:44 GMT)