UAE's Adnoc likely to extend Cosmo oil stake

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc) looks set to extend the stakes a subsidiary of Japan's Cosmo Oil holds in three oilfields, a Japanese trade ministry official said on Wednesday.

Adnoc's CEO Yousef Omair bin Yousef said in a Tuesday meeting in Abu Dhabi with Japan trade minister Akihiro Ohata that he expected a 30-year extension, the ministry official said.

The United Arab Emirates is Cosmo's biggest crude supplier and the second-biggest supplier to Japan after Saudi Arabia.

The Cosmo subsidiary, Abu Dhabi Oil Co, has been looking for a 30-year extension after its current contracts expire in 2012.

Adnoc's head also said that Abu Dhabi Oil Co would be granted a new concession area, as expected, the official said.

To back up Japanese companies' oil production in the Emirate, state-run Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in November granted Adnoc a $3 billion loan co-financed with five banks.

Ohata is also visiting Saudi Arabia and Iraq on his current trip.

At a joint news conference on Monday, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Hussain Al Shahristani said pre-qualified Japanese companies would be invited to bid this year to develop the giant Nassiriya oilfield.

The two governments also confirmed they would prepare a feasibility study on the construction of a large-scale thermal power station in southern Iraq.