Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has announced signing key agreements with US oil and gas companies that could lead to $60bn of US investments in its projects.

The agreements were signed in Abu Dhabi on 16 May during US President Donald Trump’s official visit to the UAE.

The agreements include a field development plan with ExxonMobil and Japan’s Inpex/Japan Oil Development Company (Jodco) to expand the capacity of Abu Dhabi’s Upper Zakum offshore oil field through a phased development.

Adnoc spent $1.3bn last year on two key engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects to raise the oil production capacity of the Upper Zakum field – Abu Dhabi’s largest producing oil asset – to 1.2 million barrels a day (b/d). Abu Dhabi-based Target Engineering Construction Company won both those projects.

Adnoc also signed a collaboration agreement with Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) to explore increasing the production capacity of the Shah gas field to 1.85 billion standard cubic feet a day (cf/d) of natural gas from 1.45 billion cf/d and accelerating the deployment of advanced technologies at the field.

MEED recently reported that contractors had submitted technical bids for the Shah gas plant expansion project.

Also, XRG, Adnoc’s overseas energy investments vehicle, signed a framework agreement with Oxy subsidiary 1PointFive to evaluate a potential investment in a direct air capture (DAC) project in Kleberg County, in the US state of Texas.

The facility would remove up to 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year using commercial-scale DAC technology. XRG is considering a capital commitment of up to one-third of the project’s total development cost.

Separately, Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs granted a new unconventional oil exploration concession to EOG Resources (EOG), a US-based hydrocarbon exploration and production company.

The award for unconventional onshore block 3, which covers a 3,609 square-kilometre area within the Al-Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, is the first award of its kind to a US company. Adnoc said it will oversee and assist with exploration activities at the concession and has the option to join a subsequent production concession.

“The agreements reinforce the shared commitment of the UAE and US to maintaining global energy security and the stability of energy markets. The enterprise value of UAE energy investments into the US is set to reach $440bn by 2035, as part of the UAE’s $1.4tn investment plan into the country,” Adnoc said in its statement.