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 UNITED
ARAB EMIRATES
Arabia/Persian Gulf
The United Arab Emirates lie at the southern end of
the Persian Gulf basin. The first discoveries were in the 1950s when a
series of major fields were located both onshore and offshore.
 The offshore Zakum field in Abu Dhabi, is the largest by
far, where major gas injection programmes are underway to maintain and
increase output. Geologically movement of salt has created gentle
structures comprising Jurassic carbonate reservoirs with oil and gas
sourced from Upper Jurassic shales.
Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi produces the majority of UAE
oil and gas. The first oil concession in Abu Dhabi was granted in
1939 to Trucial Coast Oil Development Company, covering the entire land
area and part of the offshore area. Trucial discovered the onshore Bab
field in 1960, Bu Hasa in 1962 and Asab in 1965. In 1962 the company
changed its name to Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company (ADPC) and from 1965 was
required to relinquish parts of its acreage.
 The remaining offshore area was licensed to D’Arcy Oil
Company in 1953 but was reassigned in 1955 to Abu Dhabi Marine Areas
(Adma), owned by a foreign consortium of oil companies, including Total,
BP and, from 1972, Japan Oil Development company (Jodco).
Offshore activity is carried out by a complex mix of
joint venturers with different interests in different areas. All
activity is governed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC),
established in 1971. Adma’s first discovery was the Umm Shaif field in
1959, which came onstream in 1962 through a processing centre in nearby
Das Island.
In 1965 Adma discovered the giant Zakum oil field,
estimated to hold 16 to 20 Bn Bbls of recoverable reserves, whose Lower
Zakum reservoir came onstream in 1967. The field was split into two
parts with only Lower Zakum being retained by Adma.
Upper Zakum, onstream in 1985, was developed by the Zakum
Development Company, a joint venture between ADNOC and Jodco. Adma
became Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company in 1977 (Adma-Opco),
designated as a main offshore operator. Zadco, the other main offshore
operator, was set up in 1988 after a merger between Zakum Development
Company and the Umm al Dalkh Development Company.
The Umm al-Dalkh field, onstream in 1985, lies close to
Abu Dhabi city and had been developed together with the smaller Hair,
Dalma and Jarnein fields. Further joint ventures operate the Al-Bunduq,
the Abu al-Bukhoosh (ABK) and other small fields. Twelve offshore fields
are producing, assuming Zakum counts as two.
Zadco produces around half the country’s offshore output
with Upper Zakum yielding most of this, the rest coming from Umm
al-Dalkh, Satah, Hair Dalma and Jarnein, amounting to around 30,000 Bbls
per day between them.
Upper Zakum has very large in-place reserves but low
pressures and poor porosity have restricted recovery factors despite
hundreds of wells, 35 platforms, water injection and gas injection of
part of the associated gas. Slightly less oil comes from Adma Opco’s two
fields, Lower Zakum and Umm Shaif. A series of smaller fields comprising
ABK, Al-Bunduq, Mubarraz, Umm-al-Anbar and Neewat al Ghalan contribute
the rest.
The ABK field was discovered in 1969 as an extension to
Iran’s Salman field and came onstream in 1974. The Al-Bunduq field,
discovered in 1965, lies partly in Qatar and came onstream in 1976, with
shared output. It has had an erratic production history. The Mubarraz
field south of Zakum, came onstream in 1973.
In 1982 the Mubarraz Oil Company, exploring a concession
nearby, west of Mubarraz island, discovered the Umm al Anbar field and
it came onstream in 1989. The last field to be brought onstream was the
Neewat al-Ghalan in 1995. Water and gas injection are required to
maintain output in the older fields and spare capacity, if any exists,
is located onshore.
A major project to boost production capacity of Upper
Zakum was completed in 2002, involving the utilization of a 4,000-ton
gas injection platform. Further extra output may be possible with
increased investment in Zakum and in Umm Shaif. Although all the large
fields have probably been located other small satellite accumulations
probably exist.
Initially all offshore marketed gas was produced from the
Lower Zakum field. Output increased in 1988 when Umm Shaif was added. It
increased again in 1992 when the ABK Khuff gas field came onstream and
in 1995 when production from the Khuff reservoir beneath the Umm Shaif
field came onstream. It only rose slightly through to 2004 when a
project to enlarge Umm Shaif and more than double gas production at Abu
al-Bukhoosh, also by tapping the underlying Khuff reservoir, was
completed, adding around 2.5 Bcm per year. Growth in gas output has also
increased production of associated liquids, especially condensates from
the Khuff reservoirs.
Dubai: Oil production in Dubai peaked in 1991 and
there are no unexploited fields remaining either onshore or offshore.
There is also almost no exploration due to a lack of drilling prospects.
All
Dubai’s oil and associated gas production has come from offshore
although one onshore gas field produces gas and condensate. The Dubai
Petroleum Company (DPC) is the largest offshore producing venture, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Conoco, which operates a consortium including
Total and Repsol that owns the 4 main offshore oil fields, Fateh, SW
Fateh, Rashid and Falah, discovered in a ten year period from 1966.
Fateh, the largest, was first onstream in 1969. Output
has declined since 1992 despite DPC drilling infill wells, horizontal
wells, and installing large-scale water and gas injection facilities
since the 1970s.
All the associated gas produced is re-injected so Dubai
has no offshore marketed gas production and there is unlikely to be any
for the foreseeable future if oil recoveries are to be maximised.
Associated gas production had started in 1980 when the
Jebel Ali gas plant was completed and a subsea pipeline was laid to
produce gas from the Fateh, SW Fateh and Rashid fields. Exports through
this line were reduced in 1989 and finally ceased in 1993 when gas from
the onshore Margham field came available as a replacement.
Other UAE: Sharjah’s production is insignificant
although gas reserves with associated condensates continue to be found
and the Emirate exports gas to Dubai. Three onshore gas and condensate
fields are in production. The country has only one offshore field, which
is also its only oilfield.
The Mubarak field, near Abu Musa Island, is operated by
Crescent Petroleum and came onstream in 1974 producing from the Ilam/Mishrif
Cretaceous reservoir at 60,000 Bbls per day but it began to decline
before the year was out. Several development programmes have been
carried out to improve flow rates and recover extra condensates from the
associated gas.
The only offshore gas producer is associated gas from the
Mubarak field at around 1.5 Bcm per year. Owing to its location in the
so-called protocol area of Sharjah half the revenues from Mubarak go to
Iran and 20% go to the other Emirates of Umm-al-Qaiwain and Ajman.
However, it is assumed that the production is all under Sharjah’s
control.
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