Adnoc set to give Cosmo oil stake extension
Abu Dhabi, January 12, 2011
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) looks set to extend the stakes a subsidiary of Japan's Cosmo Oil holds in three oilfields, a Japanese trade ministry official said on Wednesday.
Adnoc's CEO Yousef Omair bin Yousef said in a Tuesday meeting in Abu Dhabi with Japan trade minister Akihiro Ohata that he expected a 30-year extension, the ministry official said.
The United Arab Emirates is Cosmo's biggest crude supplier and the second-biggest supplier to Japan after Saudi Arabia.
The Cosmo subsidiary, Abu Dhabi Oil Co, has been looking for a 30-year extension after its current contracts expire in 2012.
Adnoc's head also said that Abu Dhabi Oil Co would be granted a new concession area, as expected, the official said.
To back up Japanese companies' oil production in the Emirate, state-run Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in November granted Adnoc a $3 billion loan co-financed with five banks.
Ohata is also visiting Saudi Arabia and Iraq on his current trip.
At a joint news conference on Monday, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Hussain al-Shahristani said pre-qualified Japanese companies would be invited to bid this year to develop the giant Nassiriya oilfield.
The two governments also confirmed they would prepare a feasibility study on the construction of a large-scale thermal power station in southern Iraq. - Reuters