Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), in partnership with ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company and Japan’s Inpex Corporation, have announced plans to boost production of the offshore Zakum oil field to 1 million barrels a day.

Adnoc revealed on 14 November that it is targeting to boost the production capacity of the field from the current 750,000 barrels a day to 1 million barrels by 2024. The announcement was made at a ceremony attended by Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, UAE Minister of State and CEO of Adnoc, Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation and Toshiaki Kitamura, president and CEO of Inpex.

Under the agreement, ExxonMobil and Inpex have been granted a 10-year extension for the Upper Zakum concession. The concession will now expire on 31 December 2051, extended from December 21 2041.

The Upper Zakum oil field is the second largest offshore oil field and the fourth largest oil field in the world. Adnoc began developing the field in 1977, with Jodco, a wholly-owned Inpex subsidiary, partnering with Adnoc to develop the field in 1978. Exxon formed a partnership with Adnoc to develop the field in 2006.