British energy major BP Plc (BP - Analyst Report) has denied Petroleum Intelligence Weekly reports indicating that the company has been barred from the list of companies permitted to tender for Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s onshore oil fields.

BP announced that productive talks are ongoing at all levels. Details have, however, not been revealed by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., the state-run producer known as Adnoc.

The Petroleum Intelligence Weekly reports had stated that BP was not given a three-page letter inviting companies to submit bids for rights to the onshore oil fields — Bu Hasa, Bab and Asab — which form a component of the Abu Dhabi onshore Oil Operations, or Adco, concession.

The companies which reportedly received applications to prequalify for bidding were ExxonMobil Corporation (XOM - Analyst Report), Total SA (TOT - Analyst Report), Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDS.A - Analyst Report), Statoil ASA (STO - Analyst Report) and Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY - Analyst Report).

Adnoc operates the most important concession in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The region is known to hold most of the nation’s oil where Adnoc drills oil and natural gas from onshore and undersea wells in joint ventures with international companies. The agreement is set to terminate in 2014 and Adnoc is trying to renew it or achieve a fresh agreement with the new partners.

Adnoc has a target of expanding output to 1.4 million barrels a day. Therefore, the concession has identified certain companies to assist it in reaching this goal. BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total have had their presence in Abu Dhabi since 1939. These companies were partnered by Adnoc in the 1970s, thus giving rise to the Adco concession. The concession has rights in six deposits till 2014.

BP holds a Zacks #4 Rank (short-term Sell rating). Longer term, we maintain our Neutral recommendation on the stock.