Inpex awarded stake in Abu Dhabi onshore concession

27 April 2015

Japanese company is second group to enter 40-year oil field joint venture

  • Inpex joins Total in Adco joint venture
  • Japanese media reports deal value at $1.1bn
  • Further stakes expected to be awarded in coming months

Japan’s Inpex has signed a contract to take a 5 per cent stake in the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Petroleum Operation’s (Adco’s) concession, Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry told reporters on 27 April.

Inpex will enter the joint venture, led by state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), for a period of 40 years, Reuters reported from a press conference held by the minister Yoichi Miyazawa in Tokyo.

The value of the stake was not announced, but Japanese broadcaster NHK reported earlier that the deal is expected to be worth $1.1bn.

Inpex is the second international oil company (IOC) to enter the Adco concession, which accounts for the majority of Abu Dhabi’s crude production and covers all active onshore oil fields.

French energy group Total announced it had been awarded a 10 per cent stake in Adco on 29 January.

IOCs are expected to make up 40 per cent of the Adco concession, but no further joint-venture partners have been announced out of the nine companies thought to be in the running.

Other companies bidding for a stake include UK-based BP, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Italy’s Eni, Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), US-based Occidental Petroleum, the UK/Dutch Shell Group and Norway’s Statoil.

Earlier this month, Adnoc Director-General Abdullah Nasser al-Suwaidi said there is no timeline to award the remainder of the concession stakes.

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