Creative strategic partnerships hold the key to the continuing success and resilience of the oil and gas industry, H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO told the 38th annual Oil and Money Conference in London on 17 October
Delivering the Ministerial keynote address, H.E. Dr Al Jaber said by working together in "smarter, more cohesive ways", the global oil and gas industry "can weather any challenge the future brings, reinforce our resilience and create enduring value."
Using ADNOC’s new, expanded approach to partnerships as an example, H.E. Dr Al Jaber said, "Energy market trends have refocused our approach to partnerships as the key to maximising capital efficiency, optimising our entire value chain and growing market share.
"To deliver the next wave of our growth we are actively seeking fast acting partners who can deliver access to high growth economies; forward looking partners, who can apply the latest technology to our upstream, midstream and downstream operations and financially savvy partners, including private equity and institutional investors, who can deploy long-term capital for attractive, sustainable returns."
H.E. Dr Al Jaber also noted ADNOC is exploring the IPO of minority stakes in some of its services units, emphasizing that ADNOC, at the holding company level, will remain wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi Government. In addition, he described how ADNOC is revisiting its capital structure to accelerate delivery on its smart growth 2030 strategy.
"As part of the active management of our portfolio of assets we are looking to optimise our balance sheet to both free up capital for re-investment and enhance returns. ADNOC is therefore considering various options with regards to its future financing strategy," he said.
"We believe this new approach to partnership and our capital structure will enhance performance across our businesses and ensure we continue to thrive in this new energy era…. we have capitalised on the future by building bridges to other countries and forging business partnerships beyond our borders."
The speech was made in the wake of the announcement of ADNOC’s new unified brand, bringing its subsidiary companies under one common identity.
This will help create a more integrated, dynamic and progressive corporate culture, with a centralised governance model, while maintaining the operational autonomy of each company, according to ADNOC. The introduction of the revitalised brand is the latest step in ADNOC’s 2030 smart growth strategy, which focuses on maximising value and increasing profitability, as it delivers a more profitable upstream business, a more valuable and diversified downstream business and a more sustainable and economic gas supply.
