Abu Dhabi reveals blockchain plan as it strikes oil, gas concession deals

LONDON: Abu Dhabi on Sunday struck two oil and gas concession deals, as well as announcing plans to use blockchain technology in the field of energy.
The emirate’s state fund Mubadala bought a 20 percent stake in the Nour gas field off the coast of Egypt from Italian energy company Eni, Reuters reported.
Egypt’s petroleum ministry also said that energy giant BP will buy a 25 percent stake in the concession from Eni, it was reported.
In a separate deal, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said that it had awarded a subsidiary of China ZhenHua a 4 percent stake in its onshore oil concession, previously held by the CEFC China Energy Company.
“With China ZhenHua Oil, we will pursue mutually beneficial cooperation, share business growth opportunities and work together as we deliver on our 2030 smart growth strategy,” Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, UAE minister of state and ADNOC Group CEO, said in a statement.
China ZhenHua Oil is 100 percent indirectly owned by the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, a Chinese-government agency, the statement added. It operates 11 oil and gas upstream projects in six countries, with gross production of close to 10 million metric tons per year.
ADNOC also said on Sunday that it is collaborating with IBM to pilot a blockchain-based automated system to integrate oil and gas production transactions.
“The groundbreaking system provides a secure platform for the tracking, validating and execution of transactions at every stage, from production well to the end customer,” it said in a statement.
According to ADNOC, using blockchain technology will reduce the time it takes to execute transactions between its operating companies and “significantly” increase operational efficiency.