The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has awarded Spanish energy company Cepsa a 20 per cent stake in Abu Dhabi’s offshore Sateh al-Razboot (SARB) and Umm Lulu concession, the second concession stake awarded for areas that previously made up the ADMA offshore concession.

The concession area is made up of two main fields under development, Umm Lulu, which is part of the former Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO) offshore concession, and SARB, as well as two smaller fields, Bin Nasher and Al Bateel. The ADMA-OPCO concession has been split into three new concessions to maximise commercial value, broaden Adnoc’s partner base, expand technical expertise and enable greater market access.

The agreement with Cepsa has a tenure of 40 years and an effective date of March 9, 2018. Adnoc retains a majority 60 per cent stake in the concession that will be operated by its group company Adnoc Offshore.

Cepsa, which is headquartered in Spain and wholly owned by  Abu Dhabi Government’s Mubadala Investment Company, has paid a participation fee of AED5.5bn ($1.5bn) for the concession, which is the second of three new offshore concession areas, which have been created from the former ADMA-OPCO offshore concession.

On 10 February, Adnoc announced the award of a 10 per cent interest in Abu Dhabi’s separate offshore Lower Zakum concession to an Indian consortium, led by ONGC Videsh.

Cepsa is the world’s largest producer of Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) and cumene, and is the second largest producer of phenol and acetone. In 2016, it produced 35.4 million barrels of oil, distilled 158.7 million barrels of crude oil and sold 28.3 million tonnes of petroleum products.

In November 2017, ADNOC and Cepsa signed a framework agreement to evaluate a new world-scale Linear Alkyl Benzene complex in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. LAB is the most common raw material in the manufacture of biodegradable household and industrial detergents. It is also used in house cleaners, fabric softeners, and soap bars.

The companies plan to progress the basic engineering of the proposed LAB complex in 2018.

Adnoc is finalising concession agreements with other potential partners for the remaining stakes in the SARB and Umm Lulu, the Lower Zakum and the Umm Shaif and Nasr concessions.