Abu Dhabi - Exploration Background.

It was thanks to a British geologist, Percy Cox, that Abu Dhabi was put on the oil map. In 1934, Cox was sent to Abu Dhabi by Anglo-Persian Oil Co. (now BP) to the then ruler Shaikh Shakhbut to help with problems of water supply. Cox quickly recognised that the area had good oil prospects. As a result, in 1935- 36 Anglo-Persian led a group of six companies called Petroleum Development/Trucial Coast (PD/TC) to negotiate an oil concession, and an agreement was signed in 1939.

PD/TC in 1936 had acquired concessions covering Dubai and other parts of what was then controlled by the British and known as Trucial Coast. But it relinquished Dubai in 1961. Conoco of the US then took over that concession under the name of Dubai Petroleum Company (DPC), and acquired 60% of Dubai Marine Areas (DUMA) that had been formed in 1954 by Compagnie Francaise des Petroles (Total) and Hispanoil (now Repsol).

There were problems with Shaikh Shakhbut, however. As a result, in 1951, arbitrators ruled that the concession awarded to PD/TC should be limited to those areas under the Shaikh's authority at the time of the award. PD/TC's concession was reduced to onshore areas, offshore islands and the contiguous three-mile offshore waters. This was the area to be exploited by Abu Dhabi Petroleum Co. (ADPC - ex-PD/TC). The offshore concession, comprising the territorial waters beyond the 3-mile zone, was awarded to International Marine Oil Company (Superior Oil), which withdrew from that area after carrying out limited seismic work. In March 1953 this concession was awarded to D'Arcy Exploration (Anglo-Persian).

In May 1954 Abu Dhabi Marine Areas (ADMA) was formed as an offshore operator comprising Anglo-Persian and CFP (now Total). Initial work was a seabed survey by the famed French subaquatic explorer, Jacques Cousteau. This led to the discovery of the Umm Shaif giant. As a result, the drilling barge ADMA Enterprise, bought from West Germany, was used to spud the first offshore well in 1958 and the Umm Shaif field in the same year.

ADMA and ADPC continued to dominate exploration throughout the 1960s and 1970s, resulting in the discovery of giant fields. But in 1974, Abu Dhabi (ADNOC) acquired 60% in these companies and later granted concessions to Japanese and other firms.