Page 6 - DMEA Week 46

DMEA COMMENTARY DMEA

ADNOC heralds delivery of

unconventional gas amid

ADIPEC announcements

The Emirati firm used the annual ADIPEC event to announce progress on several fronts,
with the delivery of first unconventional gas grabbing the bulk of the headlines

UAE AS has become customary, Abu Dhabi National of 160trn cubic feet (4.5trn cubic metres) of
Oil Co. (ADNOC) used the occasion of last unconventional gas recoverable resources and
week’s ADIPEC event to make several signifi- ADNOC noted its efforts to “de-risk unconven-
cant announcements relating to the company’s tional gas resources” across the emirate.
progress. The concession – the first of its kind – encom-
While the company has been at the forefront passes a two-phase exploration and appraisal
of the push to monetise assets throughout the period of six-seven years followed by a 40-year
value chain, the latest announcements illustrate development and production term should the
that ADNOC keeps making progress despite reserves be deemed commercially viable.
maintaining a broad focus. Speaking in 2018, Total’s CEO Patrick Pouy-
The key declaration was that ADNOC and anne said: “The Diyab play has the potential to be a
partner French super-major Total had delivered high-impact play ranking alongside the most-pro-
first gas from the Ruwais Diyab unconventional lific North American shale gas plays and is an
gas concession, 200km west of the capital. excellent addition to our exploration portfolio.”
In November 2018, Total signed an agree- The delivery of gas comes almost two years
ment to acquire a 40% stake alongside ADNOC to the day since ADNOC proclaimed its inte-
in the newly-created Ruwais Diyab concession, grated gas strategy, setting out plans to exploit
which covers around 6,000 square km in the newly-discovered and difficult-to-access
western Al Dhafra region of the emirate, close to reserves in order to return the emirate to a
the state firm’s main existing onshore gas-pro- position first of self-sufficiency and then of net
cessing facilities. exporter. The SPC had approved the policy a
In a statement to press, ADNOC said that week earlier.
the delivery of gas “is an important step towards ADNOC is targeting 10.3 bcm per year of
ADNOC’s target of producing 1bn cubic feet unconventional gas production by 2030 and
(28mn cubic metres) of gas from the concession CEO Sultan al-Jaber claimed to have received
before 2030”. significant interest from other firms about tak-
In late 2019, Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petro- ing stakes in further unconventional oil and gas
leum Council (SPC) announced the discovery concessions.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 46 19•November•2020