DUBAI, 28 March 2006 — US oil giant ExxonMobil yesterday acquired a stake of nearly 25 percent in a huge oil field off the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi’s “Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) yesterday signed agreements with ExxonMobil Corporation and subsidiaries covering participation in (the offshore) Upper Zakum oil field,” ADNOC said in a statement. “Under the agreements, ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited gains ownership of 28 percent out of ADNOC’s 88 percent equity stake in the Upper Zakum reservoirs (Zakum field),” the statement said.
Japan Oil Development Company (JODCO) will continue to hold the remaining 12 percent interest in the Zakum field, it added.
The partnership, which gives ExxonMobil a 24.64 percent stake in the field, aims at increasing its production to 750,000 barrels per day (bpd). The Zakum field, one of the world’s largest, currently produces around 550,000 bpd. ExxonMobil was selected in April 2005 for the venture after submitting “the best technical offer,” said the statement, adding that the US and Japanese companies would retain their interests in the field until March 2026. Abu Dhabi, the largest and wealthiest of the seven emirates making up the UAE, accounts for some 90 percent of the Gulf country’s oil output of around 2.5 million bpd.