Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has announced an investment through its subsidiary Al Dhafra Petroleum to produce crude oil from the onshore Haliba field in southeastern Abu Dhabi.

Al-Dhafra Petroleum, the operator from of the Haliba field, has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to Indian engineering firm Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE).

Adnoc plans to start production from Haliba with an initial capacity of 20,000 barrels of oil a day (b/d) by mid-2019, and ramp up output to 40,000 b/d by 2020.

Phase one of the EPC work will include 32 wells and construction of a 65 kilometres-long pipeline to carry crude oil from Haliba field wells to Adnoc Onshore’s Asab Central Degassing Station for processing. Stabilised crude oil will then be transported via Adnoc Onshore’s existing pipelines to the marine export terminals.

‘The new production infrastructure will leverage the latest digital oil field automation technology to improve efficiency, enhance safety and optimise costs’ Adnoc has stated in a press release.

Al-Dhafra Petroleum was established in 2013 as a joint venture between Adnoc and the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) and GS Energy, which is represented by the Korean Abu Dhabi Oil Consortium (KADOC).

Phase one of  the Haliba Development Project will be completed in 2020, with phase two delivering future expansion of Al Dhafra Petroleum’s production capacity by tapping into surrounding marginal fields and prospects, potentially increasing production capacity to beyond 40,000 b/d by early 2022.

“L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering has been selected to deliver this project after a competitive tendering process, ensuring that as shareholders, Adnoc and KADOC, maximise value from the investment in Haliba, and we partner with an organisation that can deploy advanced engineering and technology to support our Group-wide drive for greater efficiencies, increased productivity and reduced costs,” Abdulmunim al-Kindy, director of upstream at ADNOC was quoted as saying in the press release.