Adnoc signed new liquefied natural gas supply agreements with Chinese companies amid strengthening of economic ties between the UAE and the world’s second-largest economy.
As part of the 15-year contract with a unit of ENN Natural Gas, Adnoc will supply up to one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually to the Chinese private company, state news agency Wam reported, quoting a statement from Adnoc.
This is the largest LNG supply agreement to be signed between the UAE and a Chinese partner and was completed during the visit of Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc, to China last week.
Adnoc also announced LNG supply deals with two other Chinese companies – CNOOC Gas and Power Group and ZhenHua Oil during the visit.
The new announcements come as the UAE, the Arab world’s second-largest economy, and China continue to strengthen economic ties. Last week, Adnoc opened a sales and marketing office in Beijing to boost long-term business relationships between the energy company and China.
"We are confident that the opening of this office and the signing of the LNG supply agreements are important steps that will contribute to strengthening co-operation with our Chinese partners," Dr Al Jaber said.
This would "create new opportunities to maximise benefits across various aspects and areas of the energy sector value chain".
Last year, Adnoc also signed strategic agreements with two Chinese energy companies to collaborate on low-carbon energy solutions. The pact with China National Offshore Oil Company aims to explore opportunities in new energy plans, low-carbon solutions, LNG ventures, oil and gas activities, and trading projects.
Meanwhile, an agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation will focus on the energy value chain, including low-carbon solutions, LNG, oil and gas exploration, advanced technologies, refining, marketing and trading.
The new agreements come as China looks to diversify its LNG imports. Australia, Qatar and Russia, as well as Malaysia and the US, were the biggest suppliers of LNG to China last year, according to a recent Reuters report.
Shell's 2025 LNG Outlook forecasts a 60 per cent increase in global demand for the fuel by 2040, driven by Asian economic growth, emissions reductions in industry and transport, and the rise of artificial intelligence.
The consumption of the fuel – considered a cleaner alternative to coal and crude oil – is expected to reach 630 million tonnes to 718 million tonnes a year by 2040, compared with 407 million tonnes last year, Shell said.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
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“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
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“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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