International law firm Ashurst advised OMV, the international integrated oil and gas company based in Vienna, on its US$1.5bn acquisition of a 20 per cent participating interest in the two concessions for the offshore oil fields Umm Lulu and Sateh Al Razboot (SARB) (with the satellite fields Bin Nasher and Al Bateel) and associated infrastructure in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The completion of OMV's acquisition means that OMV will join existing concession partners, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Cia Espanola de Petroleos SA (CEPSA) who respectively hold participating interests of 60 per cent and 20 per cent and concludes the award of licenses to a number of international companies for stakes in Abu Dhabi's latest offshore concession.
 
The Ashurst team was led by oil and gas partner Renad Younes, assisted by senior associate Grant Batten and associate Johanna Armstrong.

Commenting on the transaction, Renad said:

"We are very pleased that we have been able to work with OMV on this transaction and to support them in their upstream strategic expansion plans once again. We enjoyed working on this interesting project with the OMV legal team, led by Chief Counsel Upstream Marion Kaisinger and Senior Legal Counsel Nese Acar-Nazli with support by Yelena Trukhacheva, from OMV's Abu Dhabi branch office.