Japan's Inpex Corp. has won development rights for a 10 percent stake in Abu Dhabi's Lower Zakum offshore oil field at a price of $600 million.
The contract is for 40 years and starts March 9, Inpex said Monday in a statement. The firm was also awarded a $250 million, 25-year extension of the Satah and Umm Al Dalkh concession and through that agreement has been awarded an additional 28 percent interest in the Umm Al Dalkh Oil Field, according to statements from Inpex and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
The deal is the third in as many weeks for the government of the largest sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates. Spanish refiner Cia Espanola de Petroleos SA paid $1.5 billion for a 20 percent stake in the Sateh Al Razboot and Umm Lulu fields in a deal announced Feb. 18, and a group of Indian companies paid $600 million for rights to 10 percent of the Lower Zakum field on Feb. 10.
Oil-rich states in the Middle East are looking increasingly to Asia, their biggest market, for funds to help build energy infrastructure. The drop in oil prices by half — from highs of over $100 a barrel in 2014 — has driven producers to seek new sources of money. Adnoc is keeping a 60 percent stake in each of the offshore oil concessions.
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