Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) has advanced two projects that will increase its production by 380,000 b/d of crude oil.
In the larger of the projects, the company entered an agreement with partners in supergiant Upper Zakum offshore field to boost production to 1 million b/d from about 650,000 b/d at present.
The agreement extends the concession of ExxonMobil Corp., which holds a 28% interest, and Japan Oil Development Co. Ltd. (Jodco), with 12%, by 10 years to 2051. ADNOC holds the remaining 60%. Jodco is wholly owned by INPEX Corp.
The project will include construction of four artificial islands in shallow water to support drilling of extended-reach wells with onshore rigs as well as offices and housing.
Initial Upper Zakum development involved 450 wells and more than 90 offshore platforms. The field produces 33.9° gravity crude, which is partially processed offshore then moved by pipeline to Zirku Island, 55 km away, for further processing, storage, and tanker loading.
In the other project, ADNOC let an engineering, procurement, and construction contract to China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp. (CPEC) to boost production capacity of onshore Bab field to 450,000 b/d of crude oil from 420,000 b/d by 2020.
CPEC is an affiliate of China National Petroleum Corp.
The upgrade will make the field’s first use of cluster drilling and digital oil field technology.
The project also will increase water and gas-handling capacities and add a degassing and processing train to seven trains now in place.
ADNOC is increasing its total production capacity to 3.5 million b/d next year from about 3.1 million b/d at present.
