São Paulo – Abu Dhabi will invest US$ 14 billion in the Upper Zakum field, the largest in the United Arab Emirates, aiming to boost output by 28%. The goal is to extract 750,000 barrels per day up until 2017, according to information from the website of newspaper The National. Presently, the field produces 585,000 barrels per day.
The investment will be made by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) via the Zakum Development Company (Zadco), by ExxonMobil and by Japan Oil Development. The announcement was made by Adnoc last Sunday (10th) during the Adipec oil conference.
Upper Zakum reserves are estimated at 50 billion barrels. “We are also stepping up production from 750,000 to 1 million barrels per day by 2024, which is sustainable for a 25-year period,” said Zadco senior vice president Ali Hassan Al Marzooki. “Certainly, Upper Zakum has a potential to exceed 1 million barrels,” he said, according to the newspaper.
The increase in output at Upper Zakum should help the Emirates meet its production target of 3.5 million barrels per day. Presently, the country extracts 3 million barrels per day.
Zadco should use several innovative techniques to boost output at wells and reach the mark of 1 million barrels per day. “Advanced oil recovery” methods should also be used towards the end of the 2020s in order to keep the field producing.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum