Page 10 - MEOG Week 50 2021

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Inpex makes major Abu Dhabi discovery

UAE JAPAN’S Inpex this week announced a sig- square km to 82,000 square km, taking the total
nificant oil, condensate and gas discovery at value of the contract to $2.12bn.
its Onshore Block 4 concession in Abu Dhabi The next step at Block 4 is for Inpex to carry
through its JODCO Exploration subsidiary. out analysis and tests before carrying out further
The discovery is the first since Inpex was exploration activities and pursuing the commer-
awarded the rights to the concession in March cial development of the acreage with ADNOC.
2019 following a 2018 bid round, and the com- Under the terms of the concession agreement,
pany noted that the combined in-place resources Inpex has a 100% participation in the explora-
total around 1bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe). tion phase of Onshore Block 4, with ADNOC
Inpex made the find during the drilling of an retaining the right to its customary 60% holding
exploration well between May and August this in any subsequent production phase. The total
year. duration of the agreement is 35 years, with the
The Japanese company said: “This marks the Japanese company committing to invest up to
first oil discovery of mainly Murban grade from $176mn during the initial phase, including a
this concession area as well as from a new geo- participation fee.
logical formation.” Speaking following the signing ceremony,
It added: “Based on expectations for ear- Inpex president and CEO Takayuki Ueda said
ly-stage development and production, these that the first phase of exploration would com-
resources are expected to contribute to building mence by the end of 2019 and would take around
a more resilient Inpex upstream business as out- four years.
lined in Inpex’s business development strategy.” Block 4 covers a 6,116-square km area along
The concession is close to existing infrastruc- the coast immediately to the east of Abu Dhabi
ture for both oil and gas, “raising expectations City and covers two known, undeveloped fields
for the early-stage development and production”. – Ramhan and Hudairiat – while the block’s
Meanwhile, ADNOC said: “The exploration proximity to the producing onshore Al-Dab-
well in Onshore Block 4 was drilled after new biya and Rumaitha fields and offshore Umm
insights from Abu Dhabi’s ongoing combined al-Dalkh was noted by ADNOC.
onshore and offshore 3D seismic survey,” in Inpex is familiar with all three assets, own-
reference to the mega survey currently being ing stakes in the ADNOC Onshore concession,
carried out by China National Petroleum Corp. which operates the main onshore oilfields, and in
(CNPC) geophysical specialist subsidiary BGP. Zakum Development, which operates offshore
The scope of the 3D onshore and offshore sur- concessions covering Umm al-Dalkh as well as
vey was recently expanded from around 53,000 the supergiant Upper Zakum field.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 50 15•December•2021