UAE: ADNOC awards offshore exploration block to Cosmo in Abu Dhabi’s second competitive block bid round
10 Feb 2021
Cosmo awarded exploration concession for Offshore Block 4 and will invest up to $145 million (AED532 million) during the exploration phase
Agreement further strengthens ADNOC’s long-standing partnership with Cosmo as well as the UAE-Japan strategic bilateral relationship
The
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed an exploration concession agreement, awarding the exploration rights for Abu Dhabi’s
Offshore Block 4 to
Cosmo E&P Albahriya, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan’s
Cosmo Energy Holdings. The award has been approved by Abu Dhabi’s newly formed Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) and marks the first of such awards endorsed by the SCFEA.
DUBAI: A Japanese energy firm has been awarded exclusive rights for the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas in a designated area of the Arabian Gulf.
Cosmo Energy Exploration and Production Co. (Cosmo) secured the offshore Block 4 contract in the second competitive bidding round organized by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC).
It is expected that Cosmo will invest up to $145 million in exploration and appraisal drilling in an area covering 4,865 square kilometers to the north of Abu Dhabi.
A subsidiary of Cosmo will operate the block under the agreement signed with the Abu Dhabi Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) and ADNOC.
ADNOC says several Japanese firms are mulling using Murban futures to price their oil
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, the UAE’s biggest energy producer, and ICE Futures Abu Dhabi have signed agreements with several Japanese end-users to explore pricing their oil against the Murban futures contract to be launched on March 29, the national oil producer said Jan. 14.
Cosmo Oil Co., a shareholder in Abu Dhabi Oil Co., and other unnamed Japanese end-users signed the agreements during a virtual meeting, ADNOC said in its statement.
Cosmo Oil couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the matter.
The UAE is Japan’s second-largest crude supplier after Saudi Arabia and Tokyo has a number of stakes in Abu Dhabi’s oil assets.