Back to overview
Home Fossil Energy Japan’s Inpex named asset leader for giant field offshore Abu Dhabi

Japan’s Inpex named asset leader for giant field offshore Abu Dhabi

April 30, 2018

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has appointed Inpex, Japan’s largest exploration and production (E&P) company, as asset leader for the Lower Zakum oil field offshore Abu Dhabi.

Inpex, which recently signed an agreement with ADNOC, awarding it a 10 per cent interest in the Lower Zakum concession for a fee of about $600 million, participates in the concession through its subsidiary, JODCO Lower Zakum Limited.

This is the first instance that a company other than an “oil major” is appointed as asset leader for a giant offshore field in Abu Dhabi, Inpex said on Monday.

As asset leader of the Lower Zakum oil field, JODCO Lower Zakum Limited will devote its human and technical resources to the operations at the Lower Zakum oil field, and will play an advisory role to ADNOC. The company will also work closely with ADNOC Offshore to achieve production targets, consider and deploy EOR technology most suitable for the field, reduce development and production costs and transfer technical knowledge.

Furthermore, as the only IOC partner participating in both the Lower and Upper Zakum oil fields, Inpex, through its subsidiaries JODCO Lower Zakum Limited and JODCO, will continue to seek synergies between the two oil fields to reduce costs and maximize value.

“Inpex views the UAE as one of its core business areas and will continue to strive to strengthen its oil development activities and contribution efforts in Abu Dhabi as well as help further deepen the cordial relations between Abu Dhabi and Japan, while working to increase its corporate value at the same time,” the Japanese company concluded.

In related news, ADNOC on Sunday awarded OMV an interest in Abu Dhabi’s SARB and Umm Lulu offshore concession for a fee of $1.5 billion.

The agreement with OMV completes the round of offshore concession awards, which has seen ADNOC bring on board partners like India’s ONGC, Spain’s Cepsa, Italy’s Eni, France’s Total, and China’s PetroChina.