Lulu

Umm Lulu Oil Field Development Project Profile

The Umm Lulu oil field is located in the Arabian Gulf, approximately 30 kilometers northwest of Abu Dhabi, UAE. It is situated in shallow water with a depth of about 66 feet.

The field is operated by Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco), a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) with a 60% stake, BP with 14.67%, Total with 13.33%, and Japan Oil Development Company (Jodco) with 12%.
Additional stakeholders include OMV, an Austrian oil company, and Cepsa, a Spanish integrated oil and gas company, each holding a 20% interest in the SARB and Umm Lulu offshore concession.

The Umm Lulu field development is divided into two phases.
- Phase I: Initial production began in October 2014 using existing facilities of the nearby Umm Al-Dalkh Oil Field. This phase involved the brownfield modification of two existing wellhead towers.
- Phase II: Started in September 2018, this phase includes the installation of six new wellhead towers and the construction of a super-complex consisting of six bridge-linked platforms. These platforms include gas treatment, separation, riser, utility, accommodation, water disposal, and two flare platforms.

The project involves the construction of a significant offshore infrastructure, including:
- A 35,274-ton Umm Lulu gas treatment platform (ULGTP) completed by the National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) in June 2019. This platform is responsible for gas compression, dehydration, and sweetening.
- Six platforms (accommodation, utilities, water disposal, separation, riser, and gas treatment) with a total weight of over 113,150 tons. These platforms are installed using the float-over method, with a significant portion of the hook-up and pre-commissioning work completed onshore before load-out into the sea.
- Over 90 kilometers of infield subsea pipelines, 125 kilometers of main oil lines, and 100 kilometers of fibre-optic cables.

The field is expected to produce up to 105,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) when fully developed. Initial production from the second phase started with an capacity of 50,000 bpd and is expected to increase to 215,000 bpd by 2023.
Peak production is anticipated to be around 93,530 bpd of crude oil and condensate by 2023. The field currently accounts for approximately 2% of the UAE's daily oil output.

The Umm Lulu field is expected to recover 590.67 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mmboe), comprising crude oil and condensate. Production is projected to continue until the field reaches its economic limit in 2053.

The engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for both phases was awarded to the NPCC/TechnipFMC consortium. NPCC, now known as NMDC Energy, is responsible for detailed engineering, procurement, fabrication, offshore installation, commissioning, and start-up of the offshore facilities.

The total investment for the two phases of the Umm Lulu field development exceeds $2.5 billion. This project is part of ADNOC’s broader plan to increase Abu Dhabi’s total crude oil production to 3.5 million barrels per day and eventually to 5 million barrels per day by 2030.

The Umm Lulu field is tied into Adma-Opco’s Satah Al Razboot (SARB) offshore oil field for processing the output at the Zirku Island facilities. ADNOC started manufacturing and exporting a new crude grade known as Umm Lulu in October 2018, sourced from the Umm Lulu and SARB fields.