The Abu Dhabi Government and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have added Germany’s Wintershall Holding to the Ghasha ultra-sour gas mega-project with a 10 percent stake.
The Ghasha concession consists of the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma and other offshore sour gas fields, including Nasr, SARB and Mubarraz. Wintershall will contribute 10 percent of the project capital and operational development expenses, a statement said.
Germany’s largest crude oil and natural gas producer – and a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF, the world’s largest chemicals company by sales – joins Italy’s Eni as partners with ADNOC in the project.
Eni was awarded a 25 percent stake in the Ghasha concession earlier this month. The agreement marks the first time a German oil and gas company has been awarded a stake in an Abu Dhabi concession area, the statement added.
The concession agreement, which has a term of 40 years, was signed by Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, and Mario Mehren, CEO of Wintershall.
Al Jaber said: “Development of the Ghasha concession area is a strategic priority for ADNOC. The gas, extracted from the concession area, at commercial rates, will make a significant contribution to fulfilling our commitment to ensuring a sustainable and economic gas supply and achieving our objective of gas self-sufficiency for the UAE.”
The Ghasha ultra-sour concession will tap into the Arab basin, which is estimated to hold multiple trillions of standard cubic feet of recoverable gas.
The project is expected to produce over 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day when it comes on stream, around the middle of the next decade, enough to provide electricity to more than two million homes.
Once complete, the project will also produce more than 120,000 barrels of oil and high value condensates per day.
Mehren said: “We are delighted to be partners in this project, supporting ADNOC’s 2030 smart growth strategy… We want to establish a strong and long-term cooperation in Abu Dhabi.”
In addition to developing the Ghasha concession area, ADNOC plans to increase production from its Shah field to 1.5 billion cubic feet per day and move forward to develop the sour gas fields at Bab and Bu Hasa.
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