Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC)
looks set to extend the stakes a subsidiary of Japan’s Cosmo Oil
holds in three oilfields, a Japanese trade ministry
official said on Wednesday.
ADNOC’s CEO Yousef Omair bin Yousef said in a Tuesday
meeting in Abu Dhabi with Japan trade minister Akihiro Ohata that
he expected a 30-year extension, the ministry official said.
The UAE is Cosmo’s biggest crude supplier
and the second-biggest supplier to Japan after Saudi Arabia.
The Cosmo subsidiary, Abu Dhabi Oil Co, has been looking for
a 30-year extension after its current contracts expire in 2012.
ADNOC’s head also said that Abu Dhabi Oil Co would be granted
a new concession area, as expected, the official said.
To back up Japanese companies’ oil production in the Emirate,
state-run Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in
November granted ADNOC a $3 billion loan co-financed with five
banks.
Ohata is also visiting Saudi Arabia and Iraq on his current
trip.
At a joint news conference on Monday, Iraq’s Deputy Prime
Minister for Energy Affairs Hussain al-Shahristani said
pre-qualified Japanese companies would be invited to bid this
year to develop the giant Nassiriya oilfield.
The two governments also confirmed they would prepare a
feasibility study on the construction of a large-scale thermal
power station in southern Iraq.