Abu Dhabi wraps up offshore spree

April 30 (UPI) -- Wrapping up its offshore licensing round with a deal with Austria's OMV, the Emirati government said it's shown its commitment to generating resource value.

OMV during the weekend signed an agreement to take a 20 percent stake in offshore fields and the associated infrastructure with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., which stays on as the operator.

"This long-term strategic agreement with OMV, as well as the other seven offshore concession agreements we have concluded recently, underscores ADNOC's commitment to maximizing value from Abu Dhabi's substantial resources for the benefit of the nation, in line with the leadership's directives," ADNOC CEO Ahmed al-Jaber said in a statement.

OMV has committed $3 billion to ADNOC in long-term deals. ADNOC so far this year has signed agreements with Asian energy companies, Italian major Eni and French supermajor Total.

The United Arab Emirates is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and party to its multilateral effort to trim a market surplus with production caps. Emirati production in March averaged 2.86 million barrels per day, about 1.5 percent higher than the previous month.

Combined, the fields in question will produce about 40,000 bpd net to OMV with a peak capacity expected early in the next decade.

Signatures from OMV completed the Abu Dhabi offshore concession rounds, which kicked off at the beginning of the year. Collectively, the foreign participants contributed $7.9 billion in participation fees and secured market access for the next 40 years.

"The expansion of the global economy and increasing demand for oil, refined products and petrochemicals, provide us with new opportunities to create value across our upstream and downstream business," Jaber said.

OMV expects to produce around 420,000 bpd on average for the year, compared with the 377,000 bpd produced in the fourth quarter. In the first quarter, the Vienna-based company said it expects the price for Brent crude oil to average $60 per barrel for the year. Brent was closer to $73 per barrel early Monday.