Page 13 - MEOG Week 07 2021

MEOG TENDERS MEOG

ADNOC strengthens Japan

ties, awards Cosmo Block 4

UAE ABU Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) last holding the rights to several portions of offshore
week awarded exploration rights for Offshore acreage in the north-west, including the produc-
Block 4 to the local subsidiary of Japan’s Cosmo ing Mubarraz and Hail oilfields.
Energy as part of the emirate’s second competi- Meanwhile, in January, subsidiary Cosmo Oil
tive bid round. Co. agreed a deal with ADNOC and ICE Futures
As has become the pattern for ADNOC, Abu Dhabi (IFAD) to explore opportunities to
the Japanese company, which is the majority link crude pricing with reference to the new
owner of Abu Dhabi Oil Co. (ADOC) and is ICE Murban Crude Oil Futures. Meanwhile,
predominantly known as a refining specialist, last year, Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources
was awarded a 100% stake in the exploration and Energy signed a deal to store more than
phase. It will also hold rights to the develop- 8mn barrels of ADNOC crude, expanding and
ment and production phases of any successful extending a deal that had lapsed a year earlier.
commercial discovery, at which point ADNOC Cosmo is also not the first Japanese firm to
has the option to take its customary 60% share. have success in ADNOC’s recent concession
The contract was signed for a term of 35 years, auctions.
with Cosmo agreeing to spend up to $145mn In 2019, ADNOC awarded the Onshore
on exploration and appraisal drilling, including Block 4 to Japan’s Inpex following the 2018
a participation fee, across the 4,865-square km licensing round, with the company’s wholly
offshore concession. owned JODCO Exploration subsidiary holding
The deal follows similar agreements in rights to the 6,116-square km area, which runs
December with US-based Occidental Petro- parallel to the offshore concession.
leum for onshore Block 5 and with a consortium Meanwhile, the countries’ partnership has
of Italy’s Eni and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and expanded beyond oil in recent months and
Production (PTTEP) for Offshore Block 3. Al Jaber noted that the latest award “under-
As with those agreements, ADNOC noted scores, once more, the important role of energy
that Cosmo would “leverage and contribute co-operation in enhancing economic relations
financially and technically” to the ongoing mega between the UAE and Japan as we focus on the
seismic survey currently being carried out by post [coronavirus (COVID-19)] recovery”.
China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) geo- Last month, ADNOC and Japan’s Ministry of
physical specialist subsidiary BGP. Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) agreed to
The scope of the 3D onshore and offshore collaborate on initiatives in fuel ammonia and
survey was recently expanded from around carbon recycling as Tokyo seeks to shore up a
53,000 square km to 82,000 square km, taking blue ammonia supply chain.
the total value of the contract to $2.12bn. A memorandum of co-operation was signed
ADNOC added: “The data already acquired by ADNOC’s Al-Jaber and METI Minister Hiro-
over a large part of [Offshore Block 4], combined shi Kajiyama during the UAE’s virtual business
with its proximity to existing oil and gas fields, trip to Japan.
suggests the concession area has promising The announcement follows comments made
potential.” The acreage is located north-west of a week earlier by METI director-general of oil,
Abu Dhabi city. gas and mineral resources Ryo Minami that
Japan is planning to develop a supply chain of
Strong bonds blue ammonia produced from natural gas “pos-
The deal was signed by HE Dr. Sultan Ahmed sibly” in the Middle East by the late 2020s.™
Al Jaber, the UAE’s Minister of Industry and
Advanced Technology and ADNOC Group
CEO, and Cosmo CEO Hiroshi Kiriyama, with
both alluding to their “strong” and “long-stand-
ing relationship”.
Al Jaber said: “This concession award builds
on our long-standing relationship with Cosmo
and reinforces the deep-rooted and successful
strategic relationship between the UAE and
Japan, ADNOC’s largest importer of oil and gas
products.”
Cosmo-led ADOC has the accolade of own-
ing the sole upstream concession in Abu Dhabi
to be wholly owned by foreign shareholders,

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