Abu Dhabi Launches Second Oil, Gas Exploration Bid Round

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is launching Abu Dhabi’s second competitive bid round for oil and gas exploration of conventional and unconventional resources, the state oil firm said on Wednesday.

ADNOC and Abu Dhabi are opening for bidding five new blocks, including three offshore and two onshore blocks, with one of the onshore blocks offering two separate licensing opportunities for conventional and unconventional oil and gas, respectively.

“Based on existing data from detailed petroleum system studies, seismic surveys, exploration and appraisal wells data, estimates suggest the blocks in the second bid round hold multiple billion barrels of oil and multiple trillion cubic feet of natural gas,” ADNOC said in today’s statement.

ADNOC will be accepting bids by the end of November 2019, after which the company will evaluate the bids received. The Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) will award the successful bidders, ADNOC said.

The launch of second exploration bid round comes a year after ADNOC offered six oil and gas blocks for bidding in a first-ever competitive exploration and production bid round as part of its strategy to expand strategic partnerships in all business areas.

The first bid round concluded in March 2019, in which Abu Dhabi awarded two offshore blocks in concessions to a consortium led by Italy’s oil and gas major Eni and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP). One onshore block went to India’s Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Indian Oil Corporation Limited, another onshore block was awarded to Occidental Petroleum, and a third onshore block was awarded to Japan’s Inpex Corporation.

“The launch of Abu Dhabi’s second licensing bid round builds on the momentum of the first and very successful competitive bid round,” Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, said.

“It demonstrates how ADNOC’s expanded approach to partnerships is enabling us to utilize value-add partnerships and smart technologies to drive new commercial opportunities and efficiently accelerate the exploration and development of Abu Dhabi’s untapped resources, in line with the leadership’s directives,” Al Jaber noted.

Source: Oilprice.com