UAE Awards Stakes in Oilfields to Total

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said on Sunday it has signed 40-year agreements with France’s Total, awarding the company a 20% stake in the Umm Shaif and Nasr offshore oilfields and a 5% interest in the Lower Zakum field.
Total has contributed a participation fee of $1.15 billion for the Umm Shaif and Nasr fields and a fee of $300 million for the Lower Zakum Oilfield, ADNOC said in a statement, Zawya reported.
The agreements were signed by Sultan al Jaber, group chief executive of ADNOC, and Patrick Pouyanne, chairman and CEO of Total. The agreements have a term of 40 years and are backdated to March 9, 2018, ADNOC said.
“Total brings deep knowledge and understanding of Abu Dhabi’s offshore oil and gas fields, as well as specialist expertise and technology that will help accelerate the development of the giant Umm Shaif gas cap,” al Jaber said in the statement.
“These agreements ensure Total secure long-term access to significant and competitive hydrocarbon resources that we already know very well,” said Pouyanne.
Total is ADNOC’s largest and one of its longest international partners, active in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas sector since 1939. In the Umm Shaif and Nasr oilfields, Total joins Italy’s Eni, which was recently awarded a 10 % stake.
 In the Lower Zakum field, Total joins an Indian consortium, led by ONGC Videsh and Japan’s INPEX, with Eni also a stakeholder. ADNOC also said it is finalizing opportunities with potential partners for the remaining 10% of the available 40% stake in the Lower Zakum Oilfield, and for the remaining 10% stake in the Umm Shaif and Nasr fields. The Emirati company retains a 60% majority share in both oilfields.