ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates—Abu Dhabi has unveiled ambitious plans to ramp up oil output to 3.5 MMbbl/d from the current 2.7 MMbbl/d with investments of $25 billion over the next five years, despite the current downturn.

The increase will come from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s (ADNOC) push in onshore operations and increasingly in offshore developments.

Al Dhafra Petroleum, 60% owned by ADNOC and 40% owned by Korea National Oil Corp. and GS Energy Group, is aiming to become the first onshore and offshore producer of oil in Abu Dhabi by bringing three hub fields onstream over the coming years, delegates at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC) were told.

The company will start production from the Area 1 and Area 2 fields onshore before tapping the offshore Area 3.

In Area 1, which lies in southeast Abu Dhabi on the border with Oman, Al Dhafra is targeting the Haliba Field which was originally discovered in the 1990s when two wells were drilled.

New seismic was acquired over the field in 2014 and five appraisal wells have been drilled in the past two years. First oil from Haliba is planned in fourth-quarter 2017, with production ramping up to a peak of 30 Mb/d.

Al Dhafra will also continue exploring in the area and will look to develop the Bu Qalla and Riqeah fields north of Haliba to maintain production beyond 2026.

Development of Area 2—located in southwest Abu Dhabi on the border with Saudi Arabia and where six wells were originally drilled from 1960-1970—will follow. Al Dhafra targets the Dhafra Mushash structure. Seismic was acquired over the field in 2014, and final interpretation is ongoing.

Two appraisal wells will be drilled into the main structure after 2018.

Processing facilities will be built in the Dhafra Mushash area and supplied with well fluids via flow lines from remote well sites. Crude is expected to be transferred to the Bu Hasa production facilities 75 km (47 miles) away for further treatment. First oil from Dhafra Mushash is planned for second quarter 2024.

Heading offshore, “In Area 3 we have three offshore fields, Bu Dana, Adnoc 1B and Adnoc 1C. The main target for these fields is Jurassic Carbonate. The structures are quite small compared to Area 1 and Area 2,” Thuraya Al Ghafri, a geophysicist with Al Dhafra, told ADIPEC. “New 3-D seismic was acquired over the fields in 2015. It is currently undergoing processing and is expected to be completed by the third quarter 2016. First oil from these three fields is expected in the second quarter of 2025.”

A riser platform and a central separation platform will be built at Adnoc 1B and connected to an already existing platform which will be used for accommodation. Satellite wellhead platforms will be built at Bu Dana to the north and Adnoc 1C to the south.

Production from the fields is expected to ramp up to 15,000 bbl/d.

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