THE HAGUE (Alliance News) - Abu Dhabi National Oil Co is seeking final bids by tomorrow for concessions to the emirate's largest onshore fields, said Abdullah Nasser Al Suwaidi, director general of the state-owned company, according to Bloomberg.
The offers must match terms of the agreement Adnoc reached with Total SA, Al Suwaidi said at a conference in Dubai. Total is Adnoc's first partner in a 40-year concession to fields in the biggest sheikhdom of the United Arab Emirates.
Al Suwaidi declined to say if any more bidders than Total have made final offers and he also declined to specify the terms of Adnoc's agreement with Total, saying the fee the Paris-based company will earn for each barrel of oil it may produce is confidential.
Abu Dhabi plans to increase total production capacity to 3.5 million barrels a day by the end of 2017 from about 3 million now. Adnoc announced its choice of Total as partner on Jan. 29 and said it would "soon" name others.
Adnoc is spending about USD22 billion on projects to increase onshore oil and gas production and export capacity, Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi, its deputy director for strategy, said in Abu Dhabi on November 11.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC was still in talks with Adnoc about participating in the concession, Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden said January 29. BP PLC, like Shell, was a partner in the group that previously operated the onshore fields and is "committed to Abu Dhabi for the long term," Reem Mohammed, an Abu Dhabi-based spokeswoman, said Jan. 29.
Other companies Adnoc invited to bid include China National Petroleum Corp, Japan's Inpex Corp, Korea National Oil Corp, Norway's Statoil ASA, Occidental Petroleum Corp of the US, Russia's OAO Rosneft and Eni SpA of Italy.
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