Adnoc is accelerating its gas growth strategy with $6.2 billion worth of investments to develop the Umm Shaif gas cap project in Abu Dhabi amid higher global demand for low-carbon energy.
The final investment decision for Umm Shaif gas cap will unlock more than 600 million standard cubic feet per day (scfd) of natural gas and associated gas liquids, Adnoc said on Tuesday. That is equivalent to almost 10 per cent of the UAE’s current daily gas consumption.
The company awarded three engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages totalling $5.1 billion for large-scale offshore infrastructure development to consortiums including major UAE and international contractors. The investment also includes a $365 million, 14-well drilling and integrated drilling services programme. This is to be delivered by Adnoc Drilling over 18 months using three existing rigs.
Production from the development is expected by 2030.
“The Umm Shaif gas cap FID [final investment decision] is another important milestone in delivering this strategy and reinforcing Adnoc's position as a reliable gas supplier,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc.
“Together with our international partners, we are building on decades of responsible stewardship of Abu Dhabi’s longest-operating offshore field to unlock lasting value for the UAE and our customers.”
TotalEnergies, Italy's Eni and China National Petroleum Corporation are the international partners in the project.
A gas cap is the natural accumulation of gas that sits above the oil column in a reservoir.
Umm Shaif field is part of Adnoc’s Umm Shaif and Nasr concession, and has been helping to meet the world’s energy demand for 64 years.
Abu Dhabi’s first offshore well, Umm Shaif 1, was drilled in 1958 by Rig Enterprise.
Bab and Ruwais push
The latest investment decision for Umm Shaif gas cap follows the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs awarding the concession agreement for the Bab Gas Cap, which is expected to unlock an additional 1.5 billion scfd of natural gas and associated gas liquids.
It also builds on Adnoc’s launch of a global LNG marketing and trading platform in Abu Dhabi’s financial centre ADGM, which is targeting 47 million tonnes per annum of combined marketable LNG capacity by 2035.
The push also feeds into Adnoc's flagship Ruwais LNG project, which is expected to start commercial operations in 2028 and more than double the company's LNG production capacity to about 15 million tonnes a year. More than 90 per cent of the project's 9.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity has already been committed to international customers through long-term agreements, including a 15-year deal signed with Japan's Inpex this month to supply one million tonnes per annum from the site.
Ruwais LNG, which will be the first LNG export facility in the Middle East and Africa to run on clean power, is also backed by equity partners BP, Japan's Mitsui, Shell and TotalEnergies, which each hold a 10 per cent stake.
Fatema Al Nuaimi, chief executive of Adnoc Gas, has said Ruwais LNG will open a new chapter for the UAE. “I believe, with Ruwais LNG coming on stream, this is going to be the point at which we become, as a country, a net exporter of gas,” Ms Al Nuami said in December.
The company has also said it will set aside a fifth of Ruwais LNG output to meet spot demand in Asia, where buyers are increasingly switching from coal to gas.
The UAE holds the world's seventh-largest gas reserves. Demand for gas has been growing globally as countries focus on cutting emissions to reduce global warming.
Rising global demand
Global demand for liquefied natural gas is forecast to rise between 54 per cent and 68 per cent by 2040, and then between 45 per cent and 85 per cent by 2050 from 422 million metric tonnes in 2025, boosted by growing Asian appetite for the fuel, energy company Shell said in a report in March.
Separately, Shell's LNG Outlook 2026, released last month, projected global LNG demand would reach nearly 700 million tonnes a year by 2050. This is an increase of about 65 per cent from 2025 levels, with about 180 million tonnes of new annual supply expected to enter the market by 2030.
The UAE, which left Opec this year to pursue its ambition to raise its production capacity, is investing heavily in the hydrocarbons sector.
In November, Adnoc's board approved capital investments of Dh551 billion ($150 billion) for 2026-2030 to maintain the company's growth and operations, of which $20 billion was earmarked for gas alone.
In May, Adnoc said it would award Dh200 billion in project contracts over the next three years, accelerating a construction push across upstream and downstream operations.
Adnoc Gas has also separately raised its own capital expenditure plan to $15 billion through 2029 to strengthen its position as a global LNG supplier.
