The UAE plans to increase the value of its investments in the US energy sector to $440 billion by 2035, from the current $70 billion.
This is part of the UAE’s $1.4 trillion investment plan into the country.
The plan was announced during a presentation by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc and executive director of investment company XRG, on Friday during US President Donald Trump's meeting with top business leaders in the Emirates.
The investment is expected to add $29 billion to the US’s annual gross domestic product and produce 470,000 jobs, Dr Al Jaber, who is also UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, told the US President during the last stop of his Gulf tour that was largely focused on trade and investment agreements.
US energy companies are also expected to invest $60 billion in UAE energy projects.
The agreements include a field development plan with ExxonMobil, Inpex, Japan’s largest oil and gas exploration company, and Japan Oil Development Company (Jodco), to expand the capacity of Abu Dhabi's Upper Zakum offshore field through a phased development, Adnoc said on Friday. Upper Zakum is part of the Zakum field, which is the world's second largest offshore field.
Adnoc also signed a collaboration agreement with Occidental to explore increasing the production capacity of Shah Gas field’s capacity to 1.85 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfd) of natural gas, from 1.45 bscfd, and accelerating the use of advanced technologies in the field, the company added.
The potential expansion of the facility will provide more gas for domestic industrial growth and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export, it said.
“Our partners have committed new investments worth $60 billion in upstream oil and gas, as well as new and unconventional opportunities,” Dr Al Jaber said.
"We see significant opportunities for further UAE-US partnerships across the energy-AI nexus."
On Thursday, the White House announced a $60 billion deal between ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, EOG Resources and Adnoc, for expanded oil and natural gas production. The agreement was part of a package of commercial and investment deals worth $200 billion signed during Mr Trump's visit to the Emirates.
Adnoc’s global energy investment arm XRG is seeking to make a significant investment in US natural gas, said Dr Al Jaber.
The company is set to boost investments across the American energy value chain focusing on expanding gas, LNG, specialty chemicals and energy infrastructure, according to Adnoc.
XRG signed a framework agreement with Occidental subsidiary 1PointFive to evaluate a potential investment in a direct air capture project in Kleberg County, Texas. The plant would remove up to 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, with XRG considering a capital commitment of up to one-third of the project’s total development cost, it said.
Adnoc’s stakes in NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG export facility and a planned ExxonMobil hydrogen plant − both in Texas − were transferred to XRG, which was set up last year with an asset base of $80 billion.
The company is mandated to pursue global deals in chemicals, natural gas and renewables, Adnoc said at the time.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi's Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs granted a new "unconventional" oil exploration concession to EOG Resources, a US-based hydrocarbon exploration and production company, Adnoc said on Friday. The award for onshore Block 3 covers a 3,609 square kilometre area within Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra region.
Adnoc will oversee and assist with exploration activities in the concession and has the option to join a subsequent production concession, it said.
Mr Trump said the US and the UAE agreed on Thursday to create a path for the Emirates to buy some of the world’s most advanced AI semiconductors from US companies.
“The oil and gas and all is great but you're going to have equally big, and maybe even bigger − at some point, you'll be surpassing it with AI and other businesses, so that's a great tribute to the job you've done here,” Mr Trump said at a briefing.
Earlier, Mr Trump was presented with a capsule of domestically produced oil by Dr Al Jaber. The Minister told the President that the oil was Murban, one of the highest quality grades of crude oil.
“The highest-quality oil there is on the planet and they only gave me a drop of it,” Mr Trump joked. “So I’m not thrilled. But it’s better than no drop.”
