The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) will upgrade the existing operations at its maturing onshore Bab field (Persian Gulf, United Arab Emirates). The planned investments will enable the company to increase the current production levels from 420,000 bbl/d up to 450,000 bbl/d by 2020. For this purpose, an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract has been awarded to China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC), a subsidiary of China National Petroleum (CNPC). The oil field which was discovered in 1953 and has been in production since 1958.
The company currently plans to reach a production capacity target of 3.5 Mbbl/d of oil by 2018 and the Bab field development fits into this strategy. ADNOC is considering relaunching its US$10bn Bab sour gas field project. The company selected Shell in May 2013 to take a 40% stake in a 30-year joint venture (JV) to develop the major Bab sour gas reservoirs. However, Shell drew a line under the project in January 2016 and the development of the gas field has remained stalled since then.
ADNOC owns 60% of the three companies that account for most of the oil production: ADCO (onshore fields), ADMA-OPCO (Abu Dhabi Marine Oil Company, offshore fields) and ZADCO.