Eni admitted to sour gas project offshore Abu Dhabi

Nov. 13, 2018
ADNOC and Abu Dhabi’s government have signed the first of a series of planned concession agreements with Eni, awarding the company a 25% interest in an offshore ultra-sour gas development project.

Offshore staff

ABU DHABI, UAEADNOC and Abu Dhabi’s government have signed the first of a series of planned concession agreements with Eni, awarding the company a 25% interest in an offshore ultra-sour gas development project.

The Ghasha concession, which runs for 40 years, takes in theHail, Ghasha, Dalma and other offshore fields. Eni will contribute 25% of the multi-billion-dollar development cost.

The announcement follows theSupreme Petroleum Council’s approval of ADNOC’s new gas strategy, aimed at maximizing value from Abu Dhabi’s large gas reserves as the UAE moves toward gas self-sufficiency, transitioning from a net importer of gas to a net gas exporter. 
ADNOC remains in talks with further potential partners for the remaining 15% available in Ghasha.

The project will develop the Arab basin, estimated to hold multiple tcf of recoverable gas. ADNOC aims to produce more than 1.5 bcf/d at start-up in the mid-2020s.

The concession should produce gas to satisfy more than 20% of the UAE’s gas demand, according to Eni, and will also produce more than 120,000 b/d of oil and condensate.

ADNOC plans to apply state-of-the-art smart technologies for the development, using the latest digital innovations to ensure remote access to all key activities across the project’s natural and artificial islands, platforms, and wellhead towers.

All the remote facilities will be operated from a single control center in Al Manayif that will be able to respond immediately where changes or interventions are needed.

Use of smart technologies should also allow ADNOC to deliver more value from the gas reserves and reduce human exposure to the operations, as well as helping to safeguard the local environment. The company also aims to transfer experience from ultra-sour gas development of the Shah Arab reservoir.

In March,Eni was awarded a 10% stake in ADNOC’s Umm Shaif and Nasr offshore concession and 5% of the Lower Zakum offshore concession, marking its entry to field development in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas market.

11/13/2018