History

FOUR DECADES IN THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY

The turquoise and relatively shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf have, since time immemorial, been a direct source of livelihood for the people of Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates.

Sea-faring to lands both near and far, pearl-diving and fishing have all been part of the way of life for the people of the Emirates. Since the early fifties and sixties, this mass of water has assumed a new importance when oil was discovered under the sea-bed.

The export on July 4, 1962 of the first shipment of crude oil produced from Abu Dhabi's territorial waters was an event of significant ramifications in the modern history of this country.

Four decades later, these ramifications continue to loom large on the horizons of the petroleum industry in Abu Dhabi.

These four decades since ADMA-OPCO's first shipment, produced in the Umm Shaif Field and exported from Das Island, have seen the Company scoring one success after another despite the initial difficult conditions in which it had to operate.

The shipment ushered in a new era of progress and development in Abu Dhabi and the UAE at large, thanks to the sound leadership of His Highness President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who spared no effort in using this new source of wealth to improve the lot of his people.

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of this historic event, ADMA-OPCO is proud of its record as an oil and gas pioneering Company.

Marching ahead with confidence, ADMA-OPCO is all set to face the challenges lying ahead, always ready to set forth with the same zeal and determination that helped put the company in the forefront of the oil industry in this part of the world.

THE BEGINNINGS

The origins of the oil industry in Abu Dhabi date back to the 1930s. After several years of negotiations, on 11th January 1939, an agreement was signed between the late Sheikh Shakhbout bin Sultan Al Nahyan, then Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and the Petroleum Concessions Limited (PCL).

According to Article Two, Paragraph A of the abovementioned agreement "the whole territory [is] subject to the rule of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and its dependencies, and all its islands and territorial waters",. The full text is published in the book titled The Petroleum Concessions Agreements of the United Arab Emirates (1939-1971), by Mana Saeed Al-Otaiba.

On 9th March 1953, the late Shaikh Shakhbout signed a new Concession with the D'Arcy Exploration Company Limited, a subsidiary of British Petroleum to develop the offshore areas of Abu Dhabi for 65 years. The Concession included all offshore areas of Abu Dhabi and all offshore areas and subsea lands in the water of Abu Dhabi except territorial waters.

In March 1955, an agreement was signed between D'Arcy Exploration Limited and Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Limited as a supplement to the 1953 agreement. According to this agreement D'Arcy Exploration Limited was granted "the sole and exclusive right to explore for, drill for, develop, product, transport and dispose of oil within an area of the seabed and subsoil lying beneath the high seas of the Arabian Gulf contiguous to the territorial waters of Abu Dhabi, and which had been proclaimed on the 10th of June 1949 to fall within the jurisdiction of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi". The total area of the Concession was 30,370 square kilometers with a validity of 65 years.

In May 1955, D'Arcy Exploration Company Limited assigned all its rights, privileges and obligations, as specified in the 1953 agreement, to a new company set up to operate the Concession. It was called Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Areas Limited - Universally known as 'ADMA Limited' - a newly-established partnership between BP (two-thirds) and Compagnie Française des Petroles (one-third). The story of ADMA-OPCO had begun.

In December 1972, BP sold 45 per cent of its shares in ADMA Limited to a Japanese consortium, later known as Japan Oil Development Company (JODCO).

EVOLUTION

Since it was designed in 1953, the concession agreement covering the Company's activities has been amended on several occasions to take account of the evolution of the industry, both in Abu Dhabi and internationally.

In 1966, the same year the late H. H. Shaikh Zayed became Ruler of Abu Dhabi, the Agreement was amended, stressing that the Company should relinquish parts of the Concession Area equal in aggregate to 15 per cent of the unproven areas once every three years.

In 1973, a General Agreement on Participation was reached between the Government of Abu Dhabi and the holders of the oil concession agreement in the Emirate. This provides for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), established in 1971, to hold the Government's interests of 25 per cent share in the Concession. This was subsequently raised in 1974 to reach 60 per cent, reducing the other shareholders' percentage in the Concession to 40 per cent.

In 1977, the Government of Abu Dhabi and the ADMA shareholders established a new company, called Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO), to succeed ADMA Limited as operator of the Concession.

In line with the changes in times, ADMA-OPCO adopted a new logo to reflect such changes. The new logo depicts ADMA-OPCO's mission in producing oil and gas in a clean environment. The old logo has been around for over 40 years.