Adnoc receives 'considerable' interest from potential partners in downstream projects

The state-owned energy company outlined Dh165bn plan for industrial hub of Ruwais this month

The state-run energy company outlined its plans for Ruwais in an event earlier this month. Christophe Viseux/Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has received “considerable” interest from potential partners to invest in its Dh165 billion worth of downstream projects planned in the Western region of Ruwais.

The state-run energy company outlined its plans for Ruwais in an event earlier this month, where it revealed plans to double refining capacity and triple petrochemical production by 2025, projects that will create 15,000 highly skilled jobs and add 1 per cent to gross domestic product (GDP) per year.

“We are exploring a range of options in Ruwais, including bringing in partners who share our vision to develop new businesses that will accelerate the growth of the complex,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and Adnoc Group chief executive.

“The expansion and enhancement of our refining capabilities in Ruwais, along with the development of Derivatives and Conversion Parks, are key initiatives aimed at significantly expanding ADNOC’s downstream operations. They will provide the UAE private sector, and international companies, the opportunity to partner with us to build and profit from the extended petrochemical value chain.”

Adnoc is undergoing a transformation that has led to merger of units, the listing of its fuel retailer Adnoc distribution on the Abu Dhabi bourse last year and the awarding of various stakes in onshore and offshore concessions to new and old partners.

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“Abu Dhabi for us is a strategic partner, it’s a great place to invest...the UAE has great resources to produce, and it exports those, but now it can take them and add more value to every barrel of crude oil and natural gas it produces, turning them into other products, and sending them to the markets,” said BP chief executive Bob Dudley. “This seems like a natural fit because Abu Dhabi is located at the cross roads of the world, and it’s a really ambitious idea that Abu Dhabi has experience of executing.”

BP won a 10 per cent stake in Abu Dhabi’s Adco onshore oilfields for $2.2bn in 2016.

“ADNOC's transformation is capturing the attention of investors around the world,” said John Flint, Group chief executive of HSBC. “The UAE is a good place to invest now because it has economic ambition coupled with dynamic and clear leadership."