Adnoc invests $187m to expand output capacity at onshore oilfield

An aerial view of Abu Dhabi. Al Nouf oil field, which has been producing since 2005, is located 85 kilometres southwest of Abu Dhabi. Razan Alzayani / The National

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is investing $187 million to expand the production capacity of the Al Nouf oilfield from 160,000 bpd to 175,000 barrels per day by 2024.

The UAE, Opec's third-largest producer, plans to raise output capacity to 5 million bpd by 2030 and the expansion plan at Al Nouf is part of this, Adnoc said in a statement posted on its LinkedIn page on Monday.

Adnoc awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the Nouf development to Abu Dhabi-based contracting company Robt Stone.

Around 75 per cent of the value of the contract will flow back to the UAE economy as part of Adnoc's in-country value programme.

Up to 20 wells will be added to the Nouf development, which will also use enhanced oil recovery to increase output from the maturing oil field.

Al Nouf oilfield, which has been producing since 2005, is located 85 kilometres south-west of Abu Dhabi.

Adnoc has so far awarded more than $1.5 billion worth of contracts over the last couple of months to increase production capacity across onshore and offshore oilfields in Abu Dhabi.

In July, the company awarded $763.7m worth of contracts to expand production from its offshore Upper Zakum and Satah Al Razboot (Sarb) fields.

It awarded the contracts for integrated rigless services across six of its artificial islands to Schlumberger, Adnoc Drilling and Halliburton.

In May, Adnoc also awarded a $744m contract to the UAE's National Petroleum Construction Company to fully develop the offshore Belbazem block.

Adnoc subsidiary Al Yasat, which is the state-owned oil company's joint venture with China National Petroleum Corporation, awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract.

The Belbazem block is being developed to reach a production capacity of 45,000 bpd of light crude, with the first barrel of oil expected in 2023.