Shell, BP and Total are primed for re-entry into Abu Dhabi’s 1.6mn b/d Adco concession. But if the nine contenders for a new 40-year deal hoped for insight during a frenzy of meetings between foreign and UAE executives this week they were disappointed. Abu Dhabi’s politicians are taking their time.
All eyes at this week’s huge Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) were on the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and its plans to select firms for a renewed concession for the 1.6mn b/d onshore Adco fields. Shell, BP and Total, three of the four international oil firms involved in Abu Dhabi’s upstream for over seven decades, are among the front runners. Adnoc, which has majority stakes in all foreign joint ventures in the UAE’s largest emirate, has completed evaluations of technical and commercial bids by nine of the 11 qualified bidders. (CONTINUED - 2614 WORDS)
