ADNOC signs $2.2 billion oil deal with BP

Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, right, ADNOC group chief executive officer and member of the Supreme Petroleum Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive, sign an agreement in Abu Dhabi, Saturday. (AP)

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on Saturday awarded British oil giant BP a 10-percent share in an onshore oil concession in a deal worth $2.2 billion, the companies said.
BP signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to take a stake in the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Petroleum Operations (ADCO), which operates the 40-year concession.
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, ADNOC group chief executive officer and member of the Supreme Petroleum Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive signed the agreement.
Al-Jaber said: “BP has long been a strategic partner to Abu Dhabi and ADNOC. Alongside our other partners, BP has played an important role in the development of our oil and gas assets. This agreement marks a milestone in our efforts to forge new partnership models that bring technology, expertise and financing aimed at maximizing the value of our resources and supporting the transfer of knowledge.”
“We look forward to working with partners that share a mutual interest in advancing the industry and applying innovative technology that improve operational efficiency and recovery. Our renewed partnership with BP will support ADNOC in achieving maximum economic value and levels of recovery. This is an attractive and strategic agreement for both parties that will deliver competitive returns and long term growth opportunities,” he said.
“This agreement will provide BP with long-term access to significant and competitive resources that we already understand very well,” BP chief executive said in a statement.
BP said it would pay Abu Dhabi with new shares worth £1.76 billion ($2.2 billion), leaving the emirate with a two-percent stake in the British company.
BP will second up to 50 technical staff to ADCO, whose oilfields produce 1.4 million barrels per day.
In January, French giant Total clinched a 10-percent participating share in the concession. Inpex Corp. of Japan secured five percent and South Korea’s GS Energy three percent. BP had held a 9.5-percent stake in a 75-year concession that expired in late 2014.
Other companies with shares in the old concession included Total, Exxon of the United States, Anglo-Dutch firm Shell and Portugal’s Partex.