Hail and Ghasha galvanises UAE upstream market
12 October 2023
This package on the UAE’s upstream sector also includes:
> Adnoc seeks commercial bids for Upper Zakum
> Adnoc Onshore awards Sahil field upgrade contract
> Dubai-owned Dragon Oil to boost production in Egypt and Iraq
> Oil and gas players at Adipec strive for net-zero goals
> Adnoc awards $17bn EPC contracts for Hail and Ghasha
> Dana Gas makes changes to leadership

The UAE has made a giant leap towards becoming self-sufficient in natural gas production with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's (Adnoc's) final investment decision on the Hail and Ghasha offshore sour gas project.
Adnoc and its partners in the Ghasha concession awarded contracts worth $16.94bn in early October for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the Hail and Ghasha project.
The investment represents the largest-ever capital expenditure (capex) on an oil and gas project in the UAE. As such, it will have a galvanising, trickle-down effect on the UAE oil and gas supply chain.
Hail and Ghasha programme
The Hail and Ghasha fields are part of Abu Dhabi’s Ghasha concession, which is expected to produce more than 1.5 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas before the end of this decade.
Adnoc holds the majority 55 per cent stake in the Ghasha concession. The other stakeholders are Italian energy major Eni with 25 per cent, Germany’s Wintershall Dea with 10 per cent, and Austria’s OMV and Russia’s Lukoil, each with 5 per cent.
A consortium of Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) and Italian contractor Saipem was awarded the project's offshore engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package. Its value is $8.2bn, with Saipem declaring its share to be worth $4.1bn.
The scope of work broadly involves the EPC of offshore facilities, including facilities on artificial islands and subsea pipelines.
Italy-headquartered Tecnimont was awarded the onshore EPC contract. The $8.74bn contract relates to the EPC of onshore facilities, including carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulphur recovery and handling.
The Hail and Ghasha project was initiated by Adnoc in 2018, with at least three EPC tendering rounds since. Its size and scope made it a vastly strategic proposition, hence shelving the gas production programme was not an option.
Through achieving the FID and awarding close to $17bn-worth of EPC contracts, Adnoc and its Ghasha concession partners have demonstrated the project's importance in ensuring the UAE is self-sufficient in gas by 2030.
NEWS FROM ADIPEC:
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> Adnoc Gas awards $615m carbon capture contract
> Adnoc and Oxy to study direct air capture project
> Firms bid for Abu Dhabi airport tank farms project
> Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah sign gas storage deal
Oil production push
Adnoc is also accelerating projects deemed vital to reaching its goal of 5 million barrels a day (b/d) of oil production potential by 2027, a target that has been brought forward from 2030.
Raising output from Abu Dhabi’s offshore oil fields is necessary for Adnoc to increase its overall crude production capacity. With this in mind, the Abu Dhabi energy giant has committed capex to key projects to raise output from the Upper Zakum and Lower Zakum offshore hydrocarbon concessions.
Through the UZ1000 project, Adnoc Group subsidiary Adnoc Offshore aims to grow oil production from Upper Zakum to 1.2 million b/d.
The main work scope involves the EPC of multiple surface facilities and plants at the Upper Zakum offshore development’s four main artificial islands of Al-Ghallan, Umm al-Anbar, Ettouk and Asseifiya – also known as Central Island, West Island, North Island and South Island, respectively.
Contractors submitted technical bids for EPC works on the Upper Zakum oil production increment project by 5 June. Adnoc Offshore has set a deadline of 23 October to submit commercial bids for the project.
Separately, Adnoc Offshore has undertaken a couple of projects to increase oil and gas production from the Lower Zakum field in Abu Dhabi’s waters.
Adnoc Offshore and its partners in the Lower Zakum concession intend to sustain oil production from the asset at its current level of 450,000 b/d until 2025, and then increase output to 470,000 b/d. This target will be achieved through the Lower Zakum early production scheme 2 (EPS 2) and proved developed producing (PDP) project.
Contractors submitted technical bids for the EPC works on the Lower Zakum EPS 2/PDP project by 11 September. While the EPS 2/PDP project is anticipated to increase the Lower Zakum concession’s oil production potential to 470,000 b/d by 2027, Adnoc Offshore’s larger, longer-term objective is to raise the asset’s output capacity to 520,000 b/d by 2027 and maintain that level until 2034.
This strategic goal will be accomplished through the Lower Zakum Long-Term Development Plan (LTDP-1) project. Front-end engineering and design (feed) work is progressing on the Lower Zakum LTDP-1 project and is being performed by France’s Technip Energies.
Onshore oil output
Adnoc Onshore, meanwhile, has started a slew of projects to spike crude output from fields such as Asab, Bab, Northeast Bab, Bu Hasa, Mender, Qusahwira, Sahil and Shah.
An EPC contract, estimated to be worth more than $300m, for the third development phase of the Sahil oil field was recently awarded by Adnoc Onshore to local contractor Target Engineering Construction Company.
Another project being pursued by Adnoc Onshore relates to the conversion of wells and installation of associated tie-ins at the southeast cluster of oil fields in Abu Dhabi. The EPC scope of work has been divided into two packages, with technical bids submitted by contractors in August.
Increasing production from Abu Dhabi’s onshore fields, some of which have been in operation since the 1960s, is equally crucial for Adnoc to hit its 5 million b/d by 2027 target. The capacity enhancement projects that Adnoc Onshore has been advancing indicate the importance its parent entity attaches to maintaining and raising output from its onshore assets.
Exclusive from Meed
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Adnoc awards contract for Ruwais Diyab unconventional gas3 November 2026
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Sultan Al-Jaber appeals for global energy security reset2 November 2026
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Contractors compete for Riyadh airport Terminal 6 work2 November 2026
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Contractors prepare bids for Morocco power line2 November 2026
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Adnoc Onshore allows more time for Bab gas cap well tie-in bids2 November 2026
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Adnoc awards contract for Ruwais Diyab unconventional gas3 November 2026

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The project will deliver 345 million standard cubic feet a day (scf/d) of raw gas from 2029 over a 25-year period, with the potential to reach up to 1 billion scf/d in the future.
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The DBO contract awarded by Adnoc to Jereh is understood to cover the second phase of the Ruwais Diyab unconventional gas development. The tendering exercise for the project started last year.
“The development [of Ruwais Diyab] follows a disciplined programme of technical studies, field testing and subsurface analysis, delivered by Adnoc Onshore under a DBO model, to reduce development risk,” Adnoc said in its statement on 2 November.
“It brings together advanced subsurface expertise, artificial intelligence-enabled drilling and completion technologies and integrated project delivery capabilities to support the efficient and responsible development of domestic gas resources,” it added.
The UAE holds the seventh-largest gas reserves in the world, with 298 trillion standard cubic feet (scf) of conventional gas reserves and 160 trillion scf of unconventional gas resources.
Adnoc holds the majority 60% stake in the Ruwais Diyab concession, the majority of which is situated onshore, while France’s TotalEnergies holds the other 40% interest.
The agreement to explore, appraise and develop the area’s unconventional gas resources was signed by Adnoc and TotalEnergies in November 2018. The partners announced first gas output at the concession, presumably on a pilot basis, two years later.
Adnoc has set a target of producing 1 billion scf/d of gas from the Ruwais Diyab concession by 2030, in line with its target to achieve self-sufficiency in overall gas production by the end of this decade.
“Ruwais Diyab’s additional unconventional gas supply will strengthen Adnoc’s gas value chain, including Adnoc Gas’s ability to meet rising domestic and international customer demand,” Adnoc said in its 2 November statement.
“Ruwais Diyab advances Adnoc’s ambition to establish a scalable unconventional gas business and create a platform for future growth,” the company added.
Ruwais Diyab first phase
Adnoc awarded the contract for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) on the first phase of the unconventional gas development programme to local contractor Astra Engineering & Construction in early 2025, according to regional project tracker MEED Projects.
The first phase aims to achieve a gas output level of 100 million scf/d. The main structures to be built in the first phase include a central processing facility, two well pads, interconnecting well fluid pipelines, gas export pipelines and tie-in stations.
The EPC contractor will be required to provide services such as surveying, design, engineering, procurement, expediting, transportation, fabrication, construction, testing, installation, pre-commissioning, commissioning, site performance testing, operation and maintenance of all units.
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Sultan Al-Jaber appeals for global energy security reset2 November 2026
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Mitigation steps
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Contractors compete for Riyadh airport Terminal 6 work2 November 2026

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Contractors prepare bids for Morocco power line2 November 2026

Contractors are preparing bids for a 160-kilometre (km), 400kV transmission line linking Guercif and Fes East in Morocco, following a site visit on 1 October.
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Adnoc Onshore allows more time for Bab gas cap well tie-in bids2 November 2026

The onshore business of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Onshore) has allowed contractors more time to prepare proposals for a project to tie in gas-producing and injection wells at the gas cap reservoirs of Abu Dhabi’s onshore Bab field.
The well tie-in scope, estimated to be worth more than $800m, forms part of Adnoc Group’s wider integrated Bab gas cap development programme.
The overall programme is being led and overseen by Adnoc Gas, another Adnoc Group subsidiary. Its central element is the construction of gas-processing infrastructure to handle incremental gas output expected from developing the Bab gas caps.
Adnoc Onshore issued the main tender for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the project in late September, MEED previously reported.
Contractors have been given until 16 November to submit technical bids for the project, according to sources. The previous deadline was 29 October.
MEED previously reported that Adnoc Onshore issued an expressions of interest (EoI) notice for the Bab gas production and injector well tie-in project on 13 May, with contractors submitting responses by 20 May.
The scope of work on the project covers the following:
- Tie-in of 99 new wells from Bab gas cap reservoirs KH-2, SH-1 and LK-1 (60 gas producers and 39 gas injectors);
- Installation of well gathering structures: 10 gas pads, six well bays and three virtual pads;
- Installation of a gas gathering network and a gas injection network;
- Rerouting of the LK-3 production from the existing trunkline in Remote Manifold Station 3 (RMS-3) to the project’s production trunkline, Bab Gas TL-2;
- Demolition of the existing 10-inch trunkline from RMS-3 to onshore gas development phase one.
In the EoI document, Adnoc Onshore said it intends to award the EPC contract in the last quarter of the year, with a 45-month duration of works.
Bab gas cap project infrastructure
As part of its 2030 upstream production increase goals, Adnoc Group is working to extract gas from four underdeveloped gas cap reservoirs at the Bab onshore field development – Thammama A, Thammama B, Thammama F and Thammama H.
While the Thammama A, B and H reservoirs are estimated to collectively produce 1.45 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas, output from the Thammama F gas cap is expected to be at a rate of 396 million cf/d.
Existing trains at the Habshan processing complex in Abu Dhabi will be unable to handle the new gas volumes. Therefore, Adnoc Gas is required to build new facilities to process an additional volume of up to 1.85 billion cf/d of raw gas.
Adnoc Gas is planning to build a gas processing plant in the Bab area, about 170 kilometres from Abu Dhabi, along with associated pipeline networks and other ancillary units, as part of the broader Bab gas cap development project. It has divided the EPC scope of work on the project into four packages:
- EPC package 1 – Main Bab gas cap plant
- EPC package 2 – Early civil works
- EPC package 3 – Pipelines
- EPC package 4 – Non-process area works
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange-listed Adnoc Gas issued the tender for the main Bab gas cap plant on 25 June and set an initial deadline of 17 July for contractors to submit technical bids. The company then extended the technical bid submission deadline by four months, until 16 November, MEED previously reported.
Following a reshuffle of the consortiums gearing up to bid for the main Bab gas plant EPC package, estimated to be worth more than $6bn, the following teams have formed to compete in the main contract tendering round:
- Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India) + Petrofac Emirates (UAE)
- Technip Energies (France) + JGC Corporation (Japan) + Sinopec (China)
- Tecnimont (Italy) + China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation (CPECC)
The other three packages of the Bab gas cap project are also in the main contract tendering stages.
Prior to issuing the EoIs for the project packages, Adnoc Gas completed an early engagement process with contractors in September and October last year, as MEED previously reported.
In December last year, Adnoc Gas awarded the front-end engineering and design (feed) works for the development project to Australia-based consultancy Worley. The feed contract has a duration of more than 1.2 million man-hours, making it the largest-ever engineering job awarded by Adnoc Gas.
Bab Gas Cap concession
In addition to Adnoc Gas overseeing the main EPC tendering exercise for the gas processing plant, Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) awarded concession agreements in June for the development and production of the Bab gas cap reserve.
Adnoc will hold the majority 60% participating interest in the concession. The remaining stakes will be held by France’s TotalEnergies (10%), the UK’s BP (10%), China National Petroleum Corporation International (8%), Japan Oil Development Company Onshore (5%), China ZhenHua Oil (4%) and Korea GS E&P (3%).
According to the SCFEA, the Bab gas cap development and production concession represents the largest gas cap development project of its kind globally, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a report.
A gas cap refers to the free natural gas that sits above an underlying oil reservoir – in this case, the Bab onshore oil field in Abu Dhabi.
The project, operated by Adnoc Onshore, is expected to have a production capacity of approximately 1.5 billion cf/d of natural gas, equivalent to about 15% of Adnoc Gas’ total operational gas processing capacity.
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