UAE state-owned oil company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), has confirmed the discovery of significant natural gas resources of up to 2 trillion standard cubic feet offshore of Abu Dhabi.
According to ADNOC’s statement, interim results from the first exploration well in Abu Dhabi’s Offshore Block 2 Exploration Concession operated by the Italian multinational oil and gas company, Eni, indicate between 1.5 to 2 trillion standard cubic feet (TSCF) of raw gas in place. This is the first discovery from Abu Dhabi’s offshore exploration concessions.
As part of ADNOC’s debut competitive block bid round, a consortium led by Eni and PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) was awarded the exploration rights for Offshore Block 2 in 2019.
Offshore Block 2 covers an area of 4,033 square kilometers northwest of Abu Dhabi. The discovery in the block was enabled by new insights from the world’s largest combined onshore and offshore three-dimensional (3D) mega seismic survey currently underway in Abu Dhabi.
Drilling operations continue to reach deeper formations to fully unlock the resource volume in Offshore Block 2 and further explore the promising potential across the block as well as across Offshore Blocks 1 and 3 exploration concession areas, which were also awarded to Eni and PTTEP.
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber MD & Group CEO ADNOC
“The discovery of material natural gas resources in Offshore Block 2 underscores how ADNOC’s expanded approach to strategic partnerships is enabling us to accelerate the exploration and development of Abu Dhabi’s untapped hydrocarbon resources and create long-term value for the UAE, in line with the Leadership’s wise directives. We congratulate our valued partners, Eni and PTTEP, on this achievement and we look forward to continuing to work with all our strategic partners to sustainably unlock Abu Dhabi’s hydrocarbon resources and stay ahead of the world’s growing demand for lower-carbon energy.”
This is the second major hydrocarbons discovery ADNOC has announced in less than a month. The state-controlled oil and gas major last month said it discovered significant conventional oil, condensate and gas resources of up to 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent from an exploration well in Abu Dhabi’s onshore Block 4 concession.
Mr. Yaser Saeed Almazrouei, ADNOC Upstream Executive Director, said that “The positive interim results recorded by our partners, Eni and PTTEP, in the exploration of Offshore Block 2 follows the recent significant discovery in Onshore Block 4, highlighting the continued success of ADNOC’s accelerated exploration and development program. Both discoveries leveraged insights from ADNOC’s ongoing 3D mega seismic survey, underpinning the important role the survey is playing for us and our strategic partners as it utilizes state-of-the-art technologies to help identify new hydrocarbon resources across Abu Dhabi.”
ADNOC launched Abu Dhabi’s first and second competitive block bid rounds in 2018 and 2019 respectively, offering a set of major onshore and offshore blocks to international companies, on behalf of the government of Abu Dhabi.
