UAE's ADNOC awards PetroChina stakes in two offshore concessions

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - PetroChina will take 10 percent stakes in two of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's (ADNOC) offshore concessions under a 40-year agreement signed on Wednesday by its parent company China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

PetroChina paid a participation fee of 2.1 billion dirhams ($575 million) for the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession and a fee of 2.2 billion dirhams ($600 million) for the Lower Zakum concession, ADNOC said in a statement.

In the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession, PetroChina joins France's TOTAL and Italy's Eni which were recently awarded a 20 percent and 10 percent stake respectively.

In the Lower Zakum concession, CNPC joins an Indian consortium led by ONGC Videsh, Japan's INPEX, TOTAL and Eni.

ADNOC retains a 60 percent majority share in both concessions.

"These agreements strengthen our growing relationship with ADNOC, and will help to meet China's expanding demand for energy and contribute to asset portfolio optimization and profitability enhancement of PetroChina," Wang Yilin, who is chairman of both PetroChina and CNPC, said in a statement.

The 40-year agreements are backdated to March 9, 2018, ADNOC said.

In February 2017, CNPC, China's largest oil and gas producer, was awarded an 8 percent interest in Abu Dhabi's onshore concession, operated by ADNOC Onshore. It also has a 40 percent stake in the Al Yasat concession with ADNOC.

"Energy cooperation is an increasingly important aspect of the UAE's relations with China, the No. 1 oil importer globally and a major growth market for our products and petrochemicals," ADNOC Group Chief Executive Sultan Ahmed al Jaber said in the statement.

The statement said the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession and the Lower Zakum concession had been created after splitting the former ADMA offshore concession, which expired on March 8, into three separate ones to maximise commercial values, broaden the partner base and enable greater market access.

(Reporting By Stanley Carvalho, editing by Susan Fenton and Jane Merriman)