Gulf News reported that BP Plc still in talks with Abu Dhabi about renewing rights to produce oil after a report indicated the London based crude producer had been excluded from negotiations.

Mr David Nicholas BP spokesman said that “Constructive discussions are taking place at all levels. This is all part of doing business.”

An official at the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company excluded BP from the list of companies it asked to bid for production rights at onshore fields.

Exxon Mobil Corporation, Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Statoil ASA and Occidental Petroleum Corp received invitations to prequalify for bidding.

Abu Dhabi and Adnoc pumps crude and natural gas from onshore and undersea deposits in joint ventures with international partners. One of the ventures, Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations known also as Adco manages the main concession for the emirates’s largest onshore fields.

The agreement will expire in 2014 and Adnoc is in discussions to renew it or reach separate accords with new partners.

Mr Abdullah Nasser Al Suwaidi DG of Adnoc said in April that the producer was shortlisting the companies it would ask for bids to help pump and expand on Adco’s 1.4 million barrel per day of output.

BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and Partex Oil & Gas or their predecessor companies have been producing oil in Abu Dhabi since 1939. Adnoc joined them as a partner in the 1970s, creating the Adco concession which holds rights for six deposits until 2014.

Source - Gulf News.com

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