Adco to award contracts for three sites

Abu Dhabi: The state-run Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco) plans to award $1.8 billion (Dh6.61 billion) worth of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts this year to develop the Bab, Qusahwira and Bida Al Qemzan fields in the emirate, Adco's General Manager Abdul Munim Saif Al Kindi said Monday.

Speaking at a news conference, Al Kindi said in 2009, EPC contracts worth $3.5 billion were awarded by Adco for the development of its Shah, Asab and Sahil fields.

'There was one contract awarded for two fields Shah and Asab while one was awarded for Asab, which is a major field,' said David W.B. Westerman, Adco's assistant general manager.

Separately, Al Kindi said Adco's sustainable oil production capacity over one year is currently 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd).

Regarding Adco's natural gas output, he said it's 4.5 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day. Westerman said of Adco's gas output, 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas is on condensate recycling.

Asked about Adco's average production cost for oil, Al Kindi said it's well below $10 per barrel. He also said Adco is eyeing production of oil from its 10-12 marginal fields in the emirate.

Preliminary figures by Adco indicate that investments in marginal fields could add as much as 250,000 bpd to the UAE's current oil production. The country's current oil output is about 2.28 million bpd to which Abu Dhabi's production contributes more than 90 per cent.

'We are studying at the moment how we can lower the cost of oil production from these marginal fields,' said Westerman.

The UAE's average sustainable crude oil production capacity is set to increase 12.5 per cent to 3.06 million bpd by 2014, latest estimates by the International Energy Agency show.

The UAE presently has a sustainable crude production capacity of 2.72 million bpd, said the IEA.