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Adnoc prepares tender for next Upper Zakum field expansion

23 June 2025

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Adnoc Offshore is preparing to start the tendering process for the next expansion phase of the Upper Zakum field development in Abu Dhabi, the objective of which is to increase the asset’s oil production potential to 1.5 million barrels a day (b/d).

MEED reported in November that the offshore oil and gas production business of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Offshore) had awarded a contract for pre-front-end engineering and design (pre-feed) and feed services on the project to France-headquartered contractor Technip Energies.

A kick-off meeting between Adnoc Offshore and Technip Energies took place on 21 November, it was previously reported.

Pre-feed and feed works on the project, which is known as UZ 1.5MMBD, are in an advanced stage, according to sources. “Adnoc Offshore could be expected to issue the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) tender as early as July,” one source said.

Located 84 kilometres offshore in Abu Dhabi, Upper Zakum is the world’s second-largest offshore oil field and fourth-largest oil field.

The UZ 1.5MMBD project is the latest crude output expansion project that Adnoc Offshore has undertaken at the Upper Zakum field development.

Upper Zakum expansion

The first phase of the programme to raise the Upper Zakum offshore field development’s oil production capacity to 1.2 million b/d was launched in 2019. The initial goal was to increase the field’s output potential to 1 million b/d by 2024, which was later increased to 1.2 million b/d, with the project execution timeline eventually extended.

In April last year, MEED reported that Adnoc Offshore had awarded the main EPC contract for the UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-1 project to UAE-based Target Engineering Construction Company. The value of the contract was estimated to be $825m.

The project’s main scope involves the EPC of several surface facilities and plants at the Upper Zakum offshore development’s four main artificial islands: Al-Ghallan, Umm Al-Anbar, Ettouk and Asseifiya – also known as Central Island, West Island, North Island and South Island, respectively.

Spanish contractor Tecnicas Reunidas won the contract for the feed works on the UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-1 project in 2019. UK-headquartered Wood Group was appointed as the project management consultant for the EPC phase.

In November, MEED reported that Adnoc Offshore had also selected Target for the second phase of the Upper Zakum 1.2 million b/d project (UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-2). The value of the contract was estimated to be about $500m, according to sources.

Target began work on the project in December, MEED previously reported.

The scope of work on the UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-2 project covers the EPC of several structures on Assefiya Island.

Adnoc Offshore performed the feed work on the UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-2 project in-house.

Upper Zakum oil production

Adnoc Offshore has committed to a total capital expenditure budget of approximately $30bn, along with its operating partners in the Upper Zakum hydrocarbons concession, Japan Oil Development Company (Jodco) and US-based ExxonMobil. 

The strategic objective is to first raise the asset’s oil output from 640,000 b/d to 750,000 b/d through the UZ 750 project, then to 1.2 million b/d through the two phases of the ongoing UZ 1.2MMBD project, and eventually to 1.5 million b/d.

Zakum Development Company (Zadco), which later merged into Adnoc Offshore, awarded EPC contracts for the UZ 750 project in 2012 and early 2013.

The $817m first package was awarded to a consortium of Abu Dhabi’s NMDC Energy (then known as National Petroleum Construction Company) and Technip Energies. Package two, the project’s largest EPC package, worth $3.7bn, was awarded to a consortium of UK-headquartered Petrofac and South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Engineering.

EPC work on UZ 750 began in 2014 and was completed in 2022.

In October 2022, Adnoc Group subsidiary Adnoc Drilling set a world record for drilling the longest oil and gas well at the Upper Zakum concession, stretching 50,000 feet.

The extended-reach wells will tap into an undeveloped part of the Upper Zakum reservoir, potentially increasing the field’s production capacity by 15,000 b/d without expanding or building any new infrastructure, Adnoc said.

ALSO READ: Adnoc signs $60bn of agreements with US companies

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Indrajit Sen

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