Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC announces discovery of new natural gas resources offshore

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced today that it has discovered natural gas reserves offshore of Abu Dhabi. Interim results from the first exploration well in the emirate’s Offshore Block 2 Exploration Concession indicate the discovery of between 1.5–2 trillion standard cubic feet (TSCF) of raw gas.

Offshore Block 2 covers an area of 4,033 square kilometres northwest of Abu Dhabi. The discovery in the block was enabled by new information from the world’s largest combined onshore and offshore three-dimensional mega seismic survey, which is currently underway in the emirate.

The discovery is the first from Abu Dhabi’s offshore exploration concessions. A consortium led by Eni and PTT Exploration and Production Public Company were awarded the exploration rights for Offshore Block 2 in 2019, as part of ADNOC’s debut competitive block bid round.

.@ADNOCGroup has confirmed the first discovery of natural gas from Abu Dhabi’s offshore exploration concessions. pic.twitter.com/jg20wEQJ3Q

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@admediaoffice) February 3, 2022

Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC’s MD and group CEO, said: “The discovery of material natural gas resources in Offshore Block 2 underscores how ADNOC’s expanded approach to strategic partnerships is enabling us to accelerate the exploration and development of Abu Dhabi’s untapped hydrocarbon resources and create long-term value for the UAE, in line with the leadership’s wise directives.”

This follows the discovery of up to 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent in Onshore Block 4 Exploration Concession announced in December.

Read: Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC announces new oil and gas discoveries

ADNOC launched Abu Dhabi’s first and second competitive block bid rounds in 2018 and 2019 respectively, offering a set of major onshore and offshore blocks to international companies, on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government. Based on existing data from detailed petroleum system studies, seismic surveys, exploration and appraisal wells data, estimates suggest the blocks hold billions of barrels of oil and multiple TSCF of natural gas.