Adnoc awards contracts worth about $17 billion for Hail and Ghasha offshore project

More than 60% of the investment value of the entire project will flow back into the UAE’s economy

Adnoc plans to produce more than 1.5 billion cubic feet a day of gas from the Ghasha concession before the end of the decade. Bloomberg

Adnoc has announced the final investment decision for the Hail and Ghasha offshore development project and awarded contracts valued at nearly $17 billion.

An engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract worth $8.2 billion for offshore facilities was awarded to a joint venture between National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) and Italian oilfield services company Saipem, Adnoc said on Thursday.

A second EPC contract worth $8.74 billion for onshore projects, including carbon dioxide and sulphur recovery, was awarded to Milan-based engineering company Tecnimont.

Adnoc plans to produce more than 1.5 billion cubic feet a day of gas from the Ghasha concession before the end of the decade.

More than 60 per cent of the investment value of the entire project will flow back into the UAE’s economy, the company said.

“The final investment decision, for Hail and Ghasha, is a major milestone for Adnoc and our strategic partners and we are delighted to progress this pioneering project with net zero carbon dioxide emissions,” said Abdulmunim Al Kindy, Adnoc upstream executive director.

“Natural gas is an important transition fuel and Adnoc will continue to responsibly unlock its gas resources to enable gas self-sufficiency for the UAE, grow our export capacity and support global energy security."

The Hail and Ghasha project will capture 1.5 million tonnes per year of carbon dioxide, taking Adnoc’s committed investment for carbon capture capacity to almost 4 million tonnes per year.

The company plans to double its carbon-capture capacity to 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2030.

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) involves the trapping of carbon dioxide emissions from industrial activities such as steel and cement production, as well as from fossil fuel combustion in power generation.

Subsequently, the captured carbon is transported either by ship or through pipelines and securely stored in subterranean geological formations.

On Tuesday, Adnoc and Occidental signed an agreement to undertake a joint preliminary engineering study to build the first megaton-scale direct air capture plant outside the US.

The study will assess the proposed one million tonnes per annum direct air capture facility to be connected to Adnoc’s carbon dioxide infrastructure for injection and permanent storage into saline reservoirs not used for oil and gas production.

Adnoc Gas this week also awarded a $615 million contract to oil services company Petrofac to build one of the largest carbon capture projects in the Mena region.

The EPC contract is for carbon capture units, pipeline infrastructure and a network of wells for carbon dioxide injection at the Habshan gas processing plant.

Adnoc, which plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2045, has allocated $15 billion to invest in a range of projects up to 2030, which will help it to hasten its low-carbon growth strategy.