Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas giant ADNOC has drilled some horizontal wells and tested oil to the surface at a shale play in the United Arab Emirates operated by EOG Resources, the chief executive of the U.S. shale giant said at a conference.
In May, EOG Resources was awarded a new oil exploration concession for Unconventional Onshore Block 3 (UCO3) by Abu Dhabi. The concession area is nearly 900,000 acres, in an over-pressured, oil prone basin within the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi. EOG holds 100% equity and operatorship and, in coordination with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, will explore and appraise unconventional oil in the concession area, the U.S. oil and gas producer said.
“Following a three year appraisal phase, EOG may enter into a production concession in which ADNOC has the option to participate. EOG currently expects to begin drilling in the second half of 2025 with no change to the company’s 2025 capital plan,” it added.
At the Barclays CEO Energy-Power Conference on Tuesday, EOG’s chief executive, Ezra Yacob, said that ADNOC had drilled and tested oil to the surface at the shale formation in the UAE.
EOG is looking to develop shale resources in the UAE’s oil play, as well as a shale gas play in Bahrain, where the U.S. firm has signed a strategic exploration agreement with the national energy firm BAPCO.
“We have captured abundant resource in both plays, and we’ve partnered with companies that we have very, very strong stakeholder alignment with,” EOG’s Yacob said at the Barclays conference, referring to the UAE and Bahrain shale exploration efforts.
Several countries with huge untapped shale resources have recently started to explore their unconventional oil and gas potential. Canada, Argentina, Algeria, China, and Saudi Arabia have ambitions to replicate the U.S. shale success.
EOG’s know-how could help the UAE join the group of shale producers in a few years.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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