The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced the signing of an oil and gas exploration concession agreement, under which the Cosmo Offshore Exploration and Production Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan’s Cosmo Holding, obtained the rights to explore oil and gas in Abu Dhabi’s marine area No. 4.

This is the first concession agreement of its kind approved by the recently formed Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs in Abu Dhabi.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and CEO of ADNOC and its Group of Companies, and Hiroshi Kyriama, CEO of Cosmo Group.

On this occasion, Dr. Sultan Al-Jaber said: “In line with the wise leadership’s directives to make optimal use and maximize the value of Abu Dhabi’s hydrocarbon resources, awarding this concession contributes to strengthening the existing cooperation between ADNOC and Cosmo, and to documenting the well-established and successful strategic relationship between the UAE and Japan, which is the largest importer of ADNOC oil and gas products”.

He Added: “We are pleased to expand our partnership with Cosmo, especially as awarding this concession confirms the important role of cooperation in the energy field in strengthening economic relations between the two friendly countries, especially as we focus on preparing for the post-Covid recovery phase,”.

For his part, Hiroshi Kyriama said: “Cosmo and the Abu Dhabi government have a strong partnership in the oil and gas sector that extends for more than half a century”.

“The awarding of this concession represents an important stage for us that accelerates the pace of development of our exploration, development and production business in Abu Dhabi, and strengthens our long-standing partnership in various fields with both Abu Dhabi and ADNOC,” he added.