Adnoc awards Japan’s Cosmo offshore exploration block

Adnoc awards Japan’s Cosmo offshore exploration block

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has signed an exploration concession agreement, awarding the exploration rights for Abu Dhabi's Offshore Block 4 to Cosmo E&P Albahriya, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan's Cosmo Energy Holdings.

The award has been approved by Abu Dhabi's newly formed Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) and marks the first of such awards endorsed by the SCFEA.

The award of Offshore Block 4 follows the recent exploration block awards to Occidental as well as a consortium led by Italy's Eni and Thailand's PTTEP, highlighting Adnoc's ability to continually deliver value in Abu Dhabi's second competitive block bid round and leverage its strategic partnerships to accelerate the exploration and development of Abu Dhabi's hydrocarbon resources.

The exploration concession agreement was signed by Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Adnoc Group CEO, and Hiroshi Kiriyama, Group CEO of Cosmo.

Dr Al Jaber said: "This concession award builds on our long-standing relationship with Cosmo and reinforces the deep-rooted and successful strategic relationship between the UAE and Japan, Adnoc's largest importer of oil and gas products. We are delighted to extend our partnership with Cosmo, particularly as this award underscores, once more, the important