Adnoc, the Abu Dhabi-based global energy company, has launched a liquefied natural gas marketing and trading platform in Abu Dhabi’s financial centre ADGM to streamline exports of its expanding LNG portfolio globally.
The move combines the marketing activities of Adnoc Gas and Adnoc's international investment arm, XRG, with the trading functions of Adnoc Trading into an “integrated commercial platform”, Adnoc said in a statement.
The new ADGM entity will “enhance flexibility and shipping optionality” and supports Adnoc Gas's expanding LNG portfolio, including Ruwais LNG, and XRG’s international gas and infrastructure growth.
Targeting 47 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of combined marketable LNG by 2035, the platform will rank among the leading global LNG players, the company said.
It will scale up Adnoc's and XRG's capacity to optimise a growing and diverse LNG portfolio and reinforce Abu Dhabi’s position as a global energy trading centre, Adnoc added.
“With LNG demand set to grow substantially, the world will need reliable, responsible and trusted suppliers at scale," said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Adnoc's managing director and group chief executive.
"This world-class, integrated commercial LNG platform brings together the full strength of Adnoc’s marketing, trading and shipping capabilities to create a single global hub in Abu Dhabi," Dr Al Jaber, who is also XRG's executive chairman, said.
"It marks a step-change in scale, flexibility and optionality of our LNG marketing and trading platform and will further position Adnoc to meet the world’s growing demand for energy.”
Significant step forward
Global demand for LNG is expected to increase to nearly 700 mtpa by the middle of this century, an increase of around 65 per cent from the 2025 level, according to the LNG Outlook 2026 report by Shell.
Global LNG trade last year rose by about 5 per cent to 422 million tonnes.
Abu Dhabi's bid to hit its 2035 target of 47 mtpa, more than 10 per cent of the total global LNG trade volumes last year, pits the UAE capital against major LNG trading hubs in the US, Europe and Singapore.
Adnoc Gas, which has access to 95 per cent of the UAE's natural gas reserves, is looking to boost exports of products, including LNG, liquefied petroleum gas and naphtha.
It serves both domestic and global markets. At home, its customers include utilities and industrial companies, which are supplied with commercial quantities through an extensive network of pipelines.
The UAE is also investing heavily in finding new hydrocarbon reserves as part of its strategy to achieve total natural gas self-sufficiency by 2030.
Unchanged commitment
Adnoc on Monday said that the existing commercial LNG arrangements of Adnoc Gas remain unchanged. The new platform is expected to create "further upside for Adnoc Gas by supporting the optimisation of its marketing activities for LNG volumes, including future Ruwais LNG volumes".
XRG’s growing global LNG portfolio, supported by supply hubs and offices in London and Abu Dhabi, will also complement the operations, it said.
The company has made significant investments to broaden its global portfolio, including multibillion bids for gas assets.
Last month, XRG and Italy's Eni signed agreements with Argentina’s YPF to acquire stakes in three upstream blocks to supply a new LNG project in the South American nation.
XRG and Eni are each buying a 32 per cent interest in the three upstream blocks, with YPF retaining the remaining 36 per cent, XRG said in a June 29 statement.
In April, Adnoc said it was planning major investments in the US natural gas sector through XRG.
In June last year, XRG made a $19 billion indicative offer to buy Australia's second-largest gas producer Santos, to beef up its LNG production.
Under the proposal, the consortium led by XRG, including Abu Dhabi's ADQ, which has since merged with sovereign wealth fund L'imad, and global investment firm Carlyle, proposes to acquire 100 per cent of the ordinary shares in Santos. The deal, however, later collapsed.
Centralised marketing
Adnoc said it aims to centralise the long-term LNG marketing under the combined ADGM platform, but Adnoc Trading will remain the counterparty for trading activities.
Adnoc Trading, which has offices in Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Geneva, has already built a significant third-party LNG portfolio.
Adnoc has appointed Rashid Al Mazrouei as chief marketing and origination officer for LNG to oversee the marketing of LNG portfolios of both XRG and Adnoc Gas.
