Global energy leaders signed deals worth Dh168.9 billion ($46 billion) at Adipec 2025, marking record 35,000 cross-border agreements in clean hydrogen, drilling and grid-tech, as the world looks to meet growing power demands sustainably and affordably.
The event, which closed on Thursday, drew 218,329 attendees, reinforcing its role as a convening ground for policy, technology and finance. It generated an estimated $400 million in value for Abu Dhabi’s economy, particularly across the tourism, transport and hospitality sectors.
Abdulmunim Al Kindy, chairman of Adipec 2025, said: “Adipec continues to provide a global platform that brings the entire energy ecosystem together to advance practical, data-driven solutions that harness energy to deliver jobs, growth, competitiveness and intelligence. This year’s record participation and partnerships reinforce Adipec’s key role in shaping a more secure energy future.”
The previous three Adipec events generated business deals and economic returns exceeding Dh99.2 billion ($27 billion) across various energy segments, underscoring its positive impact in driving growth and strengthening collaboration within the global energy ecosystem.
Boosting the UAE’s economy
This year, Adnoc leveraged Adipec 2025 to announce multiple agreements to support the UAE economy and strengthen the global energy ecosystem, including through the use of artificial intelligence. “We are channelling demand from our procurement opportunities to boost the local economy, strengthen the resilience of our supply chain and ensure that products once imported are now made in the UAE,” Omar Abdulla Alnuiami, Adnoc acting director of the group commercial and in-country value directorate, said at the company's Business Partnership Forum, held concurrently with Adipec.
The deals announced at Adipec include Dh2.6 billion in framework agreements with Emerson, Yokogawa, ABB, Schneider Electric and Honeywell for UAE-made control, safety, automation and monitoring systems. These long-term contracts will support Adnoc’s digitalisation efforts and enhance operational reliability, localise advanced technologies and develop local talent, the energy major said.
In addition, Adnoc announced 12 new local manufacturing facilities and final investment decisions by UAE and international companies under its ICV programme. The projects will take shape across key industrial zones in Abu Dhabi, Al Ruwais, Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah.
Growing the international energy ecosystem
As the world’s largest energy event, Adipec has also become a platform for international energy partnerships.
Clean-energy company Masdar furthered momentum for renewables with the announcement of a 49 per cent stake in oil and gas major OMV’s 140-MW electrolysis green hydrogen project at Bruck an der Leitha in Austria.
Valued in the high hundreds of millions, according to Reuters, the plant expands UAE investments into Europe’s clean energy sector. Due online in late 2027, it will produce around 23,000 tonnes of green hydrogen a year, making it one of Europe’s five largest.
On Monday, Malaysian state energy firm Petronas and Italy’s Eni announced a binding agreement to form a joint venture combining their upstream oil and gas assets in Indonesia and Malaysia. The new company, NewCo, is to operate as a financially self-sufficient entity, with plans to invest in excess of Dh55 billion over the next five years to develop approximately three billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of discovered reserves and explore a further 10 billion boe. NewCo will manage 19 assets, 14 in Indonesia and five in Malaysia.
Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi said the agreement was a transformational moment for Eni, whose satellite model also includes ventures in Norway, the UK and Angola. “By leveraging existing production assets and developing material initiatives in both the Kutei Basin and in Malaysia, we expect to deliver over 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the mid-term,” he said.
Several international agreements focus on developing the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector, seen as a bridge fuel in the energy transition.
Oilfield services company SLB and technology company Viridien signed two agreements to expand gas exploration in Egypt’s Eastern Mediterranean. The consortium is to deploy Ocean Bottom Node seismic surveys across 95,000 sq km from 2026, reducing exploration risks and boosting drilling. Schlumberger Egypt, the local unit of SLB, also extended its Egypt Upstream Gateway platform contract by three years with Dh161.5 million investment.
Elsewhere during the show, Adnoc and Anglo-Dutch energy leader Shell signed their first long-term agreement at Adipec this year, for the offtake of up to one million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of lower-carbon LNG, covering more than 8 mtpa of its planned 9.6 mtpa capacity. The LNG will primarily come from the Ruwais LNG project, currently under development in Al Ruwais Industrial City. It is the first LNG export facility in the Middle East and Africa region to operate on clean power.
This agreement sets a benchmark for large-scale LNG projects globally, said Fatema Al Nuaimi, chief executive of Adnoc Gas. “While the industry can take up to four or five years to market such volumes, Ruwais is advancing at a record pace,” she said.
Earlier at the event, Argentina’s YPF and Italy's Eni reached an agreement with XRG, Adnoc’s international energy and chemicals investment unit, to join a liquefied natural gas project linked to the South American nation’s Vaca Muerta field. When operational, YPF will be able to export 50 million cubic metres of natural gas per day, 100,000 barrels of oil and 150,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas. The endeavour will enable Argentina to become a world-class exporter of LNG, Reuters quoted YPF chief executive Horacio Marin as saying.
XRG was also in focus for a non-binding agreement signed on Monday, to acquire a stake in Azerbaijan's Southern Gas Corridor company. The investment supports XRG’s regional strategy in the Caspian and will support the delivery of gas resources from Azerbaijan to the European market, the company said.
Closer home, Adnoc Drilling announced a definitive agreement to acquire 80 per cent stake in Oman-based MB Petroleum Services, a leading oilfield services provider operating across Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The transaction is valued at Dh749 million, with a portfolio comprising 21 drilling and workover rigs, production service units, complemented by pre-qualifications, subsidiaries and established presence across the peninsula.
“The transaction represents a strategic leap that is expected to amplify our capabilities, accelerate our regional momentum and reinforce our position as a key energy services provider in the region,” said Abdulla Ateya Al Messabi, chief executive of Adnoc Drilling.
Spurring industry and human productivity with AI
As AI has begun to transform the energy sector, the technology was the focus of several deals at this year’s Adipec.
Adnoc, which has been bullish on AI’s potential to combat the energy trilemma, launched two technology initiatives this week, as it looks to become the ‘most AI-enabled energy company’.
With SLB, the Abu Dhabi energy major announced the deployment of an AI-powered Production System Optimisation (AiPSO) to accelerate oilfield productivity. The technology will first be used across eight oil and gas fields, before being extended to all 25 of Adnoc’s onshore and offshore fields by 2027. Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Adnoc Upstream's chief executive, said it would increase production capacity while enabling teams to complete complex tasks up to 10 times faster.
Alongside, Adnoc also signed three robotics and AI-enabled partnerships with US-based Gecko Robotics for inspection, training and manufacturing.
Earlier in the week, Adnoc and Microsoft signed deals to integrate AI agents – software that can operate autonomously – across the oil company's value chain. The agreements include Masdar and XRG, which will develop sustainable energy projects and infrastructure to drive the expansion of Microsoft’s AI and data centres.
Separately, Microsoft is to provide advanced AI tools and training programmes for Adnoc staff.
AI plays an increasingly important role in energy, said Alejandro Escobar, partner at Kearney Middle East and Africa - energy and process industries practice. “The new AI era can no longer be considered just an enabler. AI is increasingly opening new value pools characterised by a technology convergence of industrial automation, digital technology, clean energy, mobility, and classical electrical technology," he said.
Abu Dhabi-based AIQ, meanwhile, is exporting UAE-made technology by implementing its AR360 Reservoir Performance Advisor (RPA) in Indonesia’s upstream oil and gas sector through a partnership with SKK Migas, the South-East Asian nation’s institution for managing upstream oil and gas. The tool improves reservoir review efficiency by 75 per cent, offers cloud-based dashboards and integrates machine learning into workflows. The deal paves the way for joint AI, digitalisation and autonomous projects, optimising mature fields, reducing costs and extending field life.
Dr Djoko Siswanto, of SKK Migas, said the agreement would strengthen energy security, operational performance and Indonesia’s position in digital energy innovation.
Diversifying through chemicals
The energy value chain includes a number of allied industries, and there was no shortage of deals in adjacent sectors such as chemicals and industrial services.
The manufacturing and industrial services company Ta’ziz announced the award of a Dh7.34 billion contract to the China National Chemical Engineering and Construction Corporation Seven to build the UAE’s first integrated single-site polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production complex. Also in Ruwais, the facility will produce 1.9 million tonnes a year of chemicals that are critical to construction, infrastructure and health care in the UAE and around the world. It will be among the world’s top three PVC manufacturing centres, Ta’ziz said.
The company will also supply key raw materials used in the manufacture of industrial and chemical products to India’s Sanmar Group, according to a separate announcement at Adipec. As part of two long-term sales agreements of up to 10 years, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer produced at the Ruwais facility will be exported for the first time. They will support Sanmar Group’s PVC production in Egypt's Port Said and India's Cuddalore, Ta'ziz said.
The first phase of the Ta’ziz ecosystem is expected to contribute Dh183 billion ($50 billion) to the UAE economy and generate 20,000 construction jobs and 6,000 operational roles over the lifetime of the project.
Over the four days of the show, deal activity at Adipec underscored how the event continues to serve as a critical platform for bringing together the global energy industry. From upstream acquisitions and local procurement contracts to renewable offtakes and technology partnerships, the conference facilitated collaboration across sectors, geographies, and investment types. Participants saw how the event’s combination of ministerial participation, corporate boardrooms and investor forums serves as a catalyst for accelerating capital deployment and advancing the global energy transition.
This page was produced by The National in partnership with Adipec.
