ADNOC enlists BP, TotalEnergies, China, Japan for gas project
ADNOC has tapped six international energy companies to help it unlock a vast new source of natural gas at one of the UAE’s biggest oil fields.
The concession gives ADNOC a 60% stake, with TotalEnergies, BP, China National Petroleum Corp., China ZhenHua Oil, Japan’s JODCO and Korea GS E&P sharing the remainder, Zawya reports.
It was approved by Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs on Wednesday.
The project will develop natural gas trapped above the Bab oil field, a layer known as a gas cap that ADNOC says represents the world’s largest project of its kind.
The gas has largely remained untapped because operators have focused on producing oil from the reservoir below.
Operated by ADNOC Onshore, the project is expected to produce 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas a day – about 15% of the capacity of ADNOC Gas – making it one of the UAE’s largest new sources of natural gas.
The additional production is aimed at reducing the UAE’s reliance on imported gas while supporting ADNOC’s growing export business in liquefied natural gas.
QatarEnergy to resume full LNG production ‘within a few weeks’
QatarEnergy expects to restore normal production of liquified natural gas from facilities that were not damaged in the Iran war.
“QatarEnergy is preparing for operations to come back to normal as soon as the situation in the [Strait of Hormuz] normalizes,” Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told the Financial Times, adding “within a few weeks.”
The Prime Minister said that establishing a hotline between the U.S. and Iran was essential to prevent rogue actors from impeding the reopening of the strait.
QatarEnergy suspended output four days after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, following a drone attack on the Ras Laffan LNG plant, then declared force majeure on its contracts.
It faced a further setback this week when an explosion at one of its facilities killed 13 people and injured dozens more.
Explosion at QatarEnergy’s Ras Laffan plant kills 13, injures 66
An explosion at QatarEnergy’s Ras Laffan industrial complex killed 13 people and injured 66 others as workers were restarting operations that had been disrupted during the Iran war.
The government said the blast Sunday night was caused by a “technical accident” at the Barzan gas processing facility and that Qatar’s LNG export operations were not affected, Reuters reports.
QatarEnergy did not disclose the precise location of the explosion or the extent of any damage, while Energy Minister and QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi said an investigation had been launched.
The incident demonstrated the operational challenges facing Gulf energy producers as they bring facilities back online after wartime shutdowns, particularly in Qatar, which depends entirely on the Strait of Hormuz to export its liquefied natural gas.
