Austrian oil and gas firm OMV has been awarded a 5% stake in the Ghasha ultra sour gas project offshore Abu Dhabi from the Abu Dhabi government and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
Image: ADNOC awards 5% stake to OMV in Ghasha ultra sour gas project. Photo: courtesy of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
The Ghasha ultra sour gas project calls for the development of the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma, Nasr, Sarb and Mubarraz sour gas fields through a multi-billion US dollar investment.
The concession agreement signed by OMV and ADNOC has a term of 40 years. Through the stake, the Austrian oil and gas company joins Eni and Wintershall as ADNOC’s partners in the sour gas concession.
UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: “This agreement builds on, and extends, our strong partnership with OMV, who we collaborate with in key areas across the oil and gas value chain. They bring extensive experience in sour gas operations, in Austria and Pakistan, and, like ADNOC, have a proven record working with mature and complex reservoirs.”
Last month, Germany-based Wintershall was awarded a 10% stake in the Ghasha ultra sour gas project. Prior to that, ADNOC granted a stake of 25% in the sour gas concession to Eni.
The Ghasha ultra sour gas project located in the Ghasha Concession will exploit the Arab basin, which is estimated to have multiple trillions of standard cubic feet of recoverable gas.
According to ADNOC, the offshore ultra sour gas mega project is expected to produce over 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day upon its commissioning, which is likely to be around 2025. The produced gas from the Ghasha ultra sour gas project will be enough to help produce electricity for more than two million homes.
The project is also expected to yield more than 120,000 barrels of oil and high-value condensates per day, said ADNOC.
OMV executive board chairman and CEO Rainer Seele said: “We are confident that our technological expertise will contribute to value-creation and profitable growth, for all partners involved. Today’s signature marks a long-term commitment, and it is another important step in the successful implementation of our strategy 2025.
“With this agreement, we are expanding our already material position in the Middle East and are further shifting our upstream production towards gas.”
In April, ADNOC awarded OMV a stake of 20% in the Sarb and Umm Lulu concessions offshore Abu Dhabi. The Austrian company has also been involved in a four-year seismic, drilling and engineering work program aimed at exploration and appraisal of areas that include the fields contained in the Ghasha concession.