ADNOC awards UAE offshore block 3 exploration concession

Italy’s Eni and Thailand’s PTTEP have been awarded an exploration concession for offshore block 3 as part of Abu Dhabi’s second licensing round. In the event of a commercial discovery, the consortium will have the right to a production concession for a term of up to 35 years. ADNOC has the option to hold a 60% stake in the production phase of the concession.

Eni will operate the exploration phase under the terms of the agreement. The consortium is planning to invest up to $412mn on exploration and appraisal drilling in block 3. The two companies were awarded concessions for offshore exploration blocks 1 and 2 in 2019.

The award comes about a month after Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC)  announced the discovery of recoverable unconventional oil resources estimated at 22bn barrels and an increase in conventional oil reserves of 2bn barrels, which boosted the UAE’s conventional reserves to 107bn barrels.