The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced to move further downstream, as it aims to take advantage of the rising demand for higher value refined and petrochemical products, particularly in China and Asia
Speaking at CERAWeek, a leading gathering of the energy industry, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the UAE minister of state and CEO of ADNOC Group, set out ADNOC’s strategic ambitions to become a major global downstream player, with the operational flexibility to respond quickly to shifting and emerging market needs.
At the centre of its new downstream strategy, ADNOC intends to create the world’s largest integrated refining and chemical site in the world, in Ruwais, the UAE, where it will triple petrochemicals’ production to 14.4mn tonnes annually by 2025.
Dr Al Jaber announced plans to host a Downstream Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi from 13 – 14 May 2018, where ADNOC will unveil significant co-investment opportunities to strengthen and grow its downstream portfolio.
“I would like to extend an invitation, to those who are keen to join us on this journey, to attend the ADNOC Downstream Investment Forum, where we will unveil our roadmap, signature projects and detailed investment plans. As we begin this next phase of our development, we welcome existing and prospective partners to join us in creating smarter growth for our long-term mutual benefit.”
He further explained that ADNOC’s downstream strategy will build on the progress ADNOC had made in 2017, as it accelerated its transformation and sharpened its focus on its strategic pillars of people, performance, profitability and efficiency to both unlock and create maximum value from its resources and assets.
In addition to aligning its group of companies under a single, unifying brand, he said that ADNOC opened up opportunities across its upstream and downstream businesses to new categories of partners and investors, including public and private financial institutions.
While developing downstream has become a major strategic priority for delivering on the goals of ADNOC’s 2030 smart growth strategy, Dr Al Jaber cited the reconfiguration of the former ADMA offshore concession into multiple concession areas as an example of how an expanded approach to partnerships has allowed ADNOC to attract additional upstream partners.
In support of ADNOC’s upstream expansion strategy, he further noted that a series of new blocks are to be made available for commercially competitive bidding for both existing and new partners with best-in-class exploration technology, to unlock untapped resources in one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon super-basins.
