Abu Dhabi has received bids from at least 10 international companies vying for a stake in the operation of its onshore oil fields after the current concession expires in 2014.

Bids were submitted on 22 October, with firms asked to hand in proposals for 5 per cent or 10 per cent stakes in the fields, which represent about half of the emirate’s crude production capacity.

“Normally we prefer to see bigger numbers, but we compete for what is on offer,” said Christophe de Margerie, chief executive officer (CEO) of France’s Total, speaking at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) in Abu Dhabi on 10 November.

State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) will assess the bids over the coming months before submitting its recommendations to the Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC).

The current joint venture managing the concession, Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco), expires on 11 January, but the existing shareholders will continue to manage the fields until the new concession takes effect.

“These are the crown jewels of Abu Dhabi and we take that responsibility very seriously,” Bob Dudley, CEO of the UK’s BP, said at Adipec. “We’ve proposed what we believe is a very, very serious bid.”

“It is clear that all the fields in the Adco concession are interesting and exciting fields, but we feel we can make a contribution to all those fields through our enhanced oil recovery [EOR],” added David Dalton, regional president for the Middle East at BP.

Local media have reported that the existing concession could be split into four separate blocks, with the development of each block led by a single company.

The existing shareholders – BP, the US’ ExxonMobil, the UK/Dutch Shell Group, Total and Portugal’s Partex – are expected to keep supporting Adco after 11 January without incurring any risks associated with being joint venture partners.

“Everything has been done in a very clean and clear way by Adnoc,” said De Margerie. “The concession is ending, so all the assets have been depreciated.”

“The new era will start when Adnoc decides who it will partner with and for what fields and percentages. We want to avoid a long transition period, but it is not in our control.”

All existing bidders, with the exception of Partex, are believed to have submitted proposals to Adnoc, with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Italy’s Eni, Japan-based Inpex, Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), US-based Occidental Petroleum, Russia’s Rosneft and Norwegian group Statoil also featuring on the list.