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ABU DHABI - The Offshore Fields - Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co.

Article Excerpt
ADMA-OPCO is the second biggest oil producer and its area has one of the world's biggest reserves of natural gas. ADMA-OPCO is owned 60% by ADNOC, 14.67% by BP, 13.33% by TotalFinaElf and 12% by JODCO (Japan Oil Development Co.). JODCO acquired its equity from BP in 1973. A few years later JODCO acquired 12% in the Upper Zakum field, a very complex super-giant which ADMA's foreign partners did not want to develop. Upper Zakum was developed by ADNOC in co-operation with Total, and the company investing in it was named ZADCO (see below). By then, ADMA had discovered most of Abu Dhabi's offshore fields, which were relinquished to ADNOC and some of them were taken up by Japanese companies. Of ADMA-OPCO's fields, two are giants: Umm Shaif and Lower Zakum. Both have been expanded and together can produce at a peak of 600,000 b/d but only for a short period. They have a sustainable capacity of 530,000 b/d, producing from more than 300 wells. Crude oils from Umm Shaif, Lower Zakum and smaller fields are exported from the nearby Das Island terminal. ADMA-OPCO's export grades are: Zakum, 40.1 deg. API with 1.1% sulphur; and Umm Shaif, 37.4 deg. API with 1.5% sulphur.

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