The Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced on Monday a partnership with Exxon Mobil Corp. to develop the Upper Zakum Oil field located off-shore from the Abu Dhabi Emirate.

Exxon Mobil was chosen among several other oil companies on the strength of its technical offerings - especially in the area of reservoir

management, oil well management, and oil production operations.

Exxon Mobil has agreed to provide advanced technology to raise the sustainable capacity of the Upper Zakum. ExxonMobil technology, primarily its subsurface drilling applications, is expected to raise oil capacity from the current 2.45 million bpd to 3 million bpd by the end of the decade.

Under the agreement, ExxonMobil will gain ownership of 28% of ADNOC's 88% equity stake in the Upper Zakum reservoirs. The Japan Oil Development Company will continue to hold the remaining 12% stake in the field.

The CEO of ADNOC, Yousef Omair bin Yousef, expressed in a statement the synergy he hopes will come out of the partnership: The SPC, and ADNOC are convinced that with its wealth of expertise and state-of-the-art technology, Exxon Mobil's partnership will further consolidate the firm foundation laid by the existing team of JODCO and ZADCO. We believe that all partners will benefit trom this lucrative venture.

Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., reiterated the strengths of the new partnership in a separate statement: We look forward to joining the already strong ZADCO team and to supplementing and enhancing the technology and capabilities of ZADCO and its shareholders. We look forward to cooperating closely with ADNOC in the areas of training and development of human resources.