Shell and BP appear to have scaled back efforts to secure a stake in Abu Dhabi’s 1.6mn b/d onshore concession despite their long history in the UAE’s upstream development. The two oil majors have now openly said that the terms on offer, though an improvement on the past, are not enough to generate acceptable rates of return in today’s environment.
Shell CEO Ben van Beurden, speaking on an analysts’ call after announcing the Anglo-Dutch major’s Q2 results on 30 July, said Shell had indeed submitted a bid for a stake in the renamed Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Petroleum Operations (Adco – the acronym remains unchanged). “We had a very very clear position of what we would like this to look like from a commercial perspective,” he said, when asked whether Shell was still involved in the contest for a stake in Adco. (CONTINUED - 704 WORDS)
