DUBAI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said Sunday it signed an agreement with Japan's INPEX Corporation (INPEX), awarding the company a 10 percent interest in Abu Dhabi's offshore Lower Zakum concession in the Persian Gulf.
The 40-year-term agreement, which comes into effect on March 9, was signed by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ADNOC Group CEO and a member of Abu Dhabi's Supreme Petroleum Council, and Toshiaki Kitamura, president and CEO of INPEX.
Meanwhile, ADNOC extended INPEX' stakes in Abu Dhabi's Satah and Umm Al-Dalkh concession for 25 years. INPEX maintains its 40 percent stake in Satah and increases its Umm Al-Dalkh share from 12 percent to 40 percent.
INPEX has contributed a participation fee of 2.2 billion dirham (600 million U.S. dollars) to enter the Lower Zakum concession. It also paid 920 million dirham (250 million dollars) to extend its interests in the Satah and Umm Al-Dalkh concession.
The Gulf Arab state as a whole harbors 7 percent of the world's known oil reserves.
Japan is heavily reliant on crude oil imports from the Middle East, with the UAE providing 25 percent of the country's requirements, said ADNOC.
