The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced on Wednesday the details of the second round of bidding for five new blocks estimated to hold multiple billion barrels of oil and multiple trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The new blocks open for bidding – three of which are offshore and two onshore – are known as Offshore Block 3, Offshore Block 4, Offshore Block 5, Onshore Block 5 and Onshore Block 2, with the latter offering two separate licensing opportunities for conventional and unconventional oil and gas, respectively.
In total, the five blocks comprise an area of approximately 34,000 square kilometers, with Offshore Block 3 being the largest one offered by Abu Dhabi in both the 2018 and 2019 block bid rounds, with an area of more than 11,000 sq. km. The blocks offered in both rounds cover approximately two-thirds of Abu Dhabi's territory.
According to ADNOC's statement, the successful bidders will enter into agreements granting them exploration rights and the opportunity to develop and produce any discoveries under terms that will be set out in the bid package provided that defined targets are achieved in the exploration phase.
Deadline for submitting bids is the end of November 2019, after which ADNOC will evaluate the offers, using the criteria set out in the bidding instructions. The Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) will award the successful bidders.
The first round of licensing bidding was concluded in March and covered an area of approximately 30,000 sq. km.
In that round, Offshore Block 1 and Offshore Block 2 were awarded in concessions to a consortium led by Eni and PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP); Onshore Block 1 was awarded in a concession to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Indian Oil Corporation Limited; Onshore Block 3 was awarded in a concession to Occidental Petroleum; and Onshore Block 4 was awarded in a concession to Inpex Corporation.
According to the statement, the United Arab Emirates is the world's seventh-largest oil producer, with about 96 percent of its reserves within the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Located in one of the world's largest hydrocarbon super-basins, there remains undiscovered and undeveloped potential in the numerous stacked reservoirs.
By Hale Turkes
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr