UAE's ADNOC awards 25% stake in gas project to Italy’s ENI

UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on Tuesday awarded the Italian oil and gas company ENI a 25 percent stake in its offshore ultra-sour gas mega project.

The concession, which has a term of 40 years, includes Hail, Ghasha and Dalma fields that will be key contributors to UAE’s gas self-sufficiency and transition to a net gas exporter, said a statement. ENI will contribute 25 percent of the development cost of the multi-billion US dollar project.

The announcement follows the Supreme Petroleum Council’s approval of ADNOC’s new gas strategy, targeted to unlock and maximize value from Abu Dhabi’s substantial available gas reserves, as the UAE moves towards gas self-sufficiency and aims to transition from a net importer of gas to a net gas exporter, the statement added.

ADNOC is in discussion with further potential partners, for the remaining 15 percent of the available 40 percent stake in Ghasha concession, earmarked for foreign oil and gas companies.

The Hail, Ghasha and Dalma ultra-sour gas project will tap into the Arab basin, which is estimated to hold multiple trillions of standard cubic feet of recoverable gas. The project is expected to produce more than 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day when it comes on stream around the middle of the next decade.

The Ghasha Concession is expected to produce enough gas to provide electricity to more than two million homes. Once complete, the project will also produce over 120,000 barrels of oil and high value condensate per day.