Partex, the Portuguese minnow with deep Mideast roots, retains hope of being invited back as a minority stakeholder in Abu Dhabi’s renewed onshore concession. BP and Shell continue to have first refusal on the 22% still up for grabs.

Partex was excluded from the list of qualified companies when the former Abu Dhabi onshore concession expired early last year. But it sees a small chance of a comeback in an as yet incomplete new partnership to help develop the 1.6mn b/d cluster of fields. (CONTINUED - 998 WORDS)