China's Zhenhua Oil doubles crude offtake from UAE

China's Zhenhua Oil is set to double its oil offtake from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co to 200,000 barrels per day after taking on a new role leading development of one of the exporter's top oilfields, three Chinese industry sources said.

In January, the smallest of China's state oil companies replaced French major TotalEnergies following a bidding process to become asset leader for Bu Hasa, the largest onshore oilfield in the United Arab Emirates, the sources said. Orsted said in a statement the Danish state, which owns just over half the company, has agreed to subscribe to a similar portion of the share issue, upholding a majority stake.

With that new role, in which Zhenhua is responsible for setting Bu Hasa's development plan and meeting production and cost targets, it also agreed a new annual deal to receive an additional 5 million tonnes from ADNOC, the sources said. The offtake deal, finalised around April, and Zhenhua's role in Bu Hasa have not been previously reported. It adds to Zhenhua's 100,000 bpd offtake agreement as an equity holder in ADNOC Onshore.