ADNOC Offshore weighs early contractor engagement for Umm Shaif expansion with two construction packages
Key Facts
ADNOC Offshore is considering early engagement with contractors on the expansion of the Umm Shaif field, MEED reported, in a move related to contracting preparations for development of the offshore field. The company completed the contractor expression-of-interest stage for two engineering, procurement and construction packages for the project in June 2026, according to the same source. MEED described the proposed step as "early engagement" on the expansion, after the company completed its assessment of contractor interest in the two packages. The field, near Das Island, dates back to March 1958, when oil was discovered there, according to a historical report published by The National. It is now operated by ADNOC Offshore as part of the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession, according to TotalEnergies.
ADNOC previously announced in January 2022 the award of a $946 million contract for the first phase of Umm Shaif's long-term development plan. That phase aimed to maintain the field's crude production capacity of 275,000 barrels per day, according to the company's statement announcing the contract. ADNOC linked the first-phase work to sustaining this production capacity, alongside the contract's domestic economic impact. It said at the time that "more than 75% of the total contract value" would flow back into the UAE economy through its In-Country Value programme. Under its broader strategy, ADNOC aims to raise its production capacity for lower-carbon-intensity hydrocarbons to 5 million barrels per day by 2027.
Ownership of the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession comprises ADNOC and international partners, according to the shareholding breakdown announced by TotalEnergies in July 2026. ADNOC holds a 60% stake in the concession, the largest among the partners. TotalEnergies holds 20%, according to its statement on the final investment decision for development of the Umm Shaif gas cap. The remaining stakes are held by China National Petroleum Corporation and Eni, with 10% each. TotalEnergies confirmed in the same statement that ADNOC Offshore operates the concession that includes the field.
For development of the Umm Shaif gas cap, ADNOC announced a $6.2 billion final investment decision in July 2026. The investment includes engineering, procurement and construction contracts, alongside a programme to drill 14 wells, according to the company's statement. McDermott announced that it had secured a contract from ADNOC as part of the field's gas cap and surface pressure boosting project. The company said its consortium's scope includes construction and installation of a new surface pressure boosting facility. The work covers the facility's supporting structure and topsides, alongside associated modifications to existing facilities, according to McDermott's description of the contract scope. The contract thus combines construction of a new facility with modifications to existing infrastructure at the field, within the scope of the gas cap project for which ADNOC announced the investment decision.
The gas cap project aims to deliver more than 600 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas and associated natural gas liquids, according to ADNOC. The company described these volumes as the targeted supplies from development of the Umm Shaif gas cap. TotalEnergies, for its part, said the project has "the potential to increase gas production to up to 1.5 billion cubic feet per day in the future". The company presented this level as a future possibility for expanding gas production from the project. ADNOC expects production from the development to begin by 2030, according to the timetable it announced with the final investment decision.