Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi Company For Onshore Oil Operations.

ADCO is owned 60% by ADNOC and 40% by Abu Dhabi Petroleum Co. (ADPC) - formerly known as PD/TC. ADPC consists of BP, Shell and Total, each holding 9.5% of ADCO; ExxonMobil holds 9.5% and Partex has the remaining 2%. (PD/TC's original concession agreement was signed in January 1939. In 1962 the company became known as Abu Dhabi Petroleum Co. Ltd. - ADPC - and in 1979 it was renamed ADCO).

ADCO has about 30 fields, of which nine are developed and three are major producers. Its capacity has risen from 860,000 b/d in 1990/91 to 1.4m b/d. But peak output for a short period can go to 1.5m b/d.

The ADCO fields are linked by more than 450 km of pipelines to storage and shipping facilities at the Jebel Dhanna oil terminal.

ADCO announced in October 2004 that it was developing a sixth large oilfield at al-Dabb'iya to raise production by 200,000 b/d by mid-2006.

The company, which is producing oil mostly from five fields, is also initiating new smart wells technology to optimise reservoir management. Al-Dabb'iya is north-east of the Bab field. It is an environmentally sensitive area.

This field is actually considered to be offshore as most of its wells are on low-lying natural and artificial islands, with inter-connected pipelines in shallow water. This is one of the three NEAD fields. The related NEAD Rumaitha field is in a desert area about 50 km south-west of Abu Dhabi City.

ADCO's smart wells concept for EOR involves an interesting technology already proven. In north-east Bab, ADCO is using smart wells which help in optimising production and optimising reservoir management. It is very cost-effective and does not entail much investment.

ADCO has grown considerably in the past 42 years to become the top oil-producing company in the UAE. From 60,000 b/d in the 1960s to 1.4m b/d now and 1.5m b/d of sustainable capacity by late-2008, it is growing rapidly as ADCO could then produce up to 1.8m b/d for a short period if necessary. But such surge production has proved to be a very costly exercise, judging by the experience in Iran.

ADCO is employing over 2,000 people, with nearly half of them being nationals. ADCO is nearing a 50% Emiratisation target is continuously developing staff development.

By 2009, ADCO is aiming to achieve a 75% Emiratisation of its workforce.

ADCO is based in a 17-storey, V-shaped complex on the Abu Dhabi corniche completed in early 1998. It is one of five HQs for ADNOC and its affiliates. The others are for ADMA-OPCO, ADGAS, NDC and a joint HQ for ZADCO and GASCO. Under a $30-32m project,

ADCO's complex has been expanded into a large compound completed in 2005. This includes a new 24-storey office tower, a mosque, a services building, a medical clinic, recreational facilities, a restaurant and large kitchen, an indoor sports hall, swimming pools, tennis and squash courts, an outdoor car park, a multi-storey car park, gardens and roads.

ADCO has over 10 bn barrels of proven oil reserves spread over 10,000 sq km (almost the size of Lebanon). In late 1993, after Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) approval, its board adopted a plan for its sustainable capacity to reach 1.5m b/d by end-1997. But actual capacity only increased to 1.19m b/d; the foreign partners did not spend as much as was needed because of OPEC quota limits.

Foster Wheeler's Wheeler International Corp (Abu Dhabi branch), part of its Global Engineering and Construction Group, was in October 2006 awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by ADCO for the Sahil, Asab and Shah (SAS) oilfield re-development project. Adco is undertaking the full re-development of the maturing SAS fields not only to increase crude oil production, but also to enhance the environmental aspects of the fields and to provide adequate facilities for their operations.

Foster Wheeler's UK operations was to execute the FEED and update the basis of design, develop the technical data, specifications and requisitions and provide a detailed cost estimate in order to define the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope of work to enable an invitation to bid for the EPC phase to be prepared and issued.

Foster Wheeler was to prepare material requisitions for long lead items and obtain estimated prices from vendors. The FEED is scheduled for completion in mid-2007, after which an EPC contractor will be appointed by ADCO.

Commissioning of the project is expected in 2010.

The chairman and CEO of Foster Wheeler's UK operations Steve Davies was on Oct. 3 quoted as saying: "We are delighted to work with ADCO again. We understand the strategic importance of this project and we will leverage our in-depth oil and gas expertise and our extensive FEED experience to deliver a high quality FEED to ADCO. As we are also a highly experienced EPC contractor, we also understand how to achieve Adco's ultimate project goals: to minimise disruptions to ongoing operations and to enable the work to be completed in an environmentally sound manner".

Adco's area engineering manager (SAS) was quoted as saying: "We are very pleased to work with Foster Wheeler again and have every confidence that our joint teams will work together to successfully complete this phase of the project on schedule. This will provide a firm foundation upon which to build for subsequent phases of the project".

Murban-Bab was the first oilfield in Abu Dhabi found in 1954 by PD/TC. It went on stream in 1964, after delays. Bab is a giant rich in natural gas. Its oil production capacity was developed in the 1970s to more than 75,000 b/d. It was closed down in 1986 and re-opened in 1989. Its sustainable capacity rose from 60,000 b/d in 1989/90 to 100,000 b/d in early 1990. Because of the Gulf crisis, ADCO quickly raised its output to 150,000 b/d by early 1991. This was expanded to 250,000 b/d in 1993 and 300,000 b/d in June 1995. But the sustainable capacity by end-1998 had fallen to 250,000 b/d, though output was able to rise to 350,000 b/d for a short period of time.

Further expansion raised Bab's long-term sustainable capacity by 150,000 b/d to 400,000 b/d at end-2004, but the actual output has recently been lower. With JGC Corp. of Japan having been the EPC contractor in a job worth about $92m, the expansion included the drilling of more wells, injection of carbon dioxide into the field's Thamama B reservoir, supply and installation of two processing trains, two- and three-phase separators, a degassing station and related pipeline work. The carbon dioxide is recovered from steam reformers and boilders at the Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Co. (Takreer) refinery in Ruwais and from the Ruwais Fertiliser Industries (Fertil) complex and pumped through a 120-km pipeline built to the Habshan gas processing centre under a related project. The Anchorage, Alaska, based Canadian company Veco was the project management contractor (PMC), and the FEED work was done by Technip-Coflexip. As part of the expansion, gas re-injection into Bab increased by 46% to 450 MCF/d - this being in addition to EOR systems already installed at the field. In another project run by Gasco, the pneumatic systems as Bab and Asab have been replaced by a facility called Integrated Control System (ICS). Bab is a major gas producer.

At North-East Bab and Bu Hasa fields gas injection compressors and related long-lead items have been supplied by Dresser Engineering and Mitsubishi under a $50m contract.

Located about 85 km south-west of Abu Dhabi City, Bab occupies an area of around 1,200 sq km. It has more than 10 oil and gas bearing zones, mainly in Thamama Fms, at depths ranging from 88 to 12,000 feet. The oil is of the Murban group, as in the case of ADCO's Bu Hasa, Asab, Shah and Sahil. Bab has over 460 wells, including more than 130 oil producers in the upper oil zone, 20 gas producers in the upper gas zones and seven wells in the lower gas zones. The Murban blend from ADCO's fields is exported through the Jebel Dhanna terminal which has been expanded. An 18-inch, 126.5-km crude oil pipeline built from Bab to an oil refinery on Umm al-Nar island was completed in 2003 in a $50m project which replaced old oil and water pipelines.

Bu Hasa, found in 1962, is ADCO's biggest oilfield. It has been expanded from 400,000 to 600,000 b/d, under a gas injection programme for both Bu Hasa and Sahil fields. But this capacity is not sustainable and the field has produced at the rate of 100,000 b/d for years in view of OPEC quota limitations.

A project is expanding the field's long-term sustainable capacity to more than 730,000 b/d by 2010. A series of projects include supply and installation of a 730,000 b/d degassing plant; replacement of existing two-phase 50,000 b/d gas separators with four new three-phase ones each of 120,000 b/d capacity; and re-injection into the field's G, F and D reservoirs of 95 MCF/d of gas and about 120,000 b/d of water. One of the EPC contractors for this is Snamprogetti, with Parsons Int'l of the US providing PMC services. The new EOR system is necessary and challenging, as the water content at Bu Hasa in early 2003 was expected to rise above 30% within five years. The water cut has reduced reservoir pressure. In a related project, four units and Bu Hasa's instrumentation and control system are being upgraded.

For its part, Gasco in 2003 contracted Larsen & Toubro of India which is upgrading and modifying the gas-gathering facilities and related installations at Bu Hasa. This nows handlea up to 65 MCF/d of additional gas. Technip-Coflexip did the FEED work.

Huwaila, a small field just south of Bu Hasa, has been developed to a capacity of 10,000 b/d. VECO has done the FEED work and has the detailed engineering and procurement contract. Crude oil from the field is pumped to Bu Hasa by pipeline.

Asab, found in 1965, is ADCO's second biggest field, but its production capacity is limited to 220,000 b/d. The field is capable of 400,000 b/d peak production. ADCO is raising its long-term capacity to 250,000 b/d. Asab is rich in natural gas. VECO in late 2004 won a $40m EPC contract for the Asab water injection project aimed at improving reservoir pressure at the field. VECO did the FEED work on the project.

Shah, found in 1966 but developed in 1990/91, has a capacity of 40,000 b/d. Sahil, found in 1967, has a capacity of 40,000 b/d. The crudes are processed at a central facility at Asab which has a spare capacity of 80,000 b/d.

All these fields have gas-rich Arab and Thamama Fms, the basis of a major onshore gas development programme. They provide gas to local power plants and Gasco at Ruwais.

ADCO's North-East Abu Dhabi (NEAD) oilfields, Rumaitha (found in 1969), al-Dabb'iya (1970s), and their satellite Shanayel (1983), came on stream in 2000 at a combined capacity of 10,000 b/d producing from 10 wells. They are being developed to a sustainable long-term capacity of 150,000 b/d and a plateau of 200,000 b/d - mostly from al-Dabb'iya. Most of their current 110,000 b/d output is being supplied to the Umm al-Nar oil refinery. Their expansion is to cost almost $600m.