Dubai offshore oil fields transition to new operator
Posted: 14 August 2006
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Effective April 2007, Dubai Petroleum Company (DPC) will end its role as operator of Dubai offshore oilfields. This marks the end of Dubai 's first offshore oil concession and the beginning of a new phase in which Dubai will directly control its offshore oil resources.
 DPC is wholly owned by ConocoPhillips and part of the DPC/Dubai Marine Areas Limited (DUMA) consortium involving interests from Total (France), Repsol YPF (Spain), RWE Dea AG, a subsidiary of RWE AG (Germany) and Wintershall AG, a subsidiary of BASF (Germany).
Dubai oil will continue to be freely traded in the international oil market under contracts established by the government and Dubai Petroleum Establishment (DPE), a new entity wholly owned by the Government of Dubai.
Effective 2 April 2007 , DPE will be responsible for operating the oilfields and for all future business related to the production of oil and gas in Dubai . Petrofac, on the other hand, takes over the responsibility for well and facilities management on behalf of DPE.
Petrofac will employ the offshore staff and the onshore operations support group. Petrofac's full responsibility for these operations will commence in early April 2007 and the contract has no time limit.
The Dubai offshore assets comprise four offshore oil fields with around 70 platforms, and around 1,100 personnel are currently involved in running the operation. These staff will be employed by Petrofac from April 2007.
The new contract becomes a key part of Petrofac's expanding portfolio of managed facilities. In the UK sector of the North Sea , Petrofac manages on a turnkey basis: the Heather and Thistle platforms; the Northern Producer (Galley field); and the Kittiwake, Hewett, and Bacton Terminal facilities.
Petrofac also supports the operation of around 20 other fields in the North Sea for a number of clients, bringing a wealth of experience to these successful operations, as well as supporting the operations of national and international oil companies in the Middle East and Africa. |
