Adnoc makes gas discovery offshore Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc today said it has made a major gas discovery - its second ever find in the UAE's offshore exploration concessions.

The discovery is at the Eni-operated block 2, northwest of Abu Dhabi, at the same exploration well where the first find was made in February this year. Adnoc said the latest discovery, from a deeper reservoir than the first, indicates reserves of 1 trillion-1.5 trillion ft³ of raw gas, taking total gas in place from the well to 2.5 trillion-3.5 trillion ft³.

The find verifies Adnoc's assertion in February that the interim results from the well, dubbed XF-002, indicated "multiple good quality gas reservoirs" in the 4,033 km² block.

Eni has a 70pc operating share in offshore block 2 and the adjacent offshore block 1, which were both awarded in January 2019 as part of Adnoc's first ever competitive exploration bid round. Thailand's state-controlled upstream company PTTEP is Eni's partner at the blocks, holding the remaining 30pc in each. Eni and PTTEP were also awarded the exploration license for offshore block 3 in December 2020.

These discoveries are the latest in a string of exploration successes for Adnoc and its international partners. In May 2022, Adnoc announced three new oil discoveries, among them a 100mn bl discovery in onshore block 3, operated by US independent Occidental Petroleum. In December 2021, Adnoc announced the discovery of up to 1bn bl of oil equivalent at Abu Dhabi's onshore block 4 by Japanese upstream firm Inpex, which Adnoc said comprised "substantial Murban oil resources."

By Nader Itayim