ADNOC to Invest in US Oil & Gas Sector

The UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Group CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Chairman of the Executive Board of XRG Investments, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, has announced ADNOC’s plans to invest huge investments into the US gas sector in the near future.

Taking part in “CERAWeek 2025,” the world’s most prestigious annual gathering offering insight into the energy future, at Houston in Texas, he said that investing in the US is not just a priority but an absolute necessity.

“XRG, the global investment arm and wholly by ADNOC, will make large scale investments across the entire gas supply chain, from exploration and extraction to distribution,” he said.

He also said that positive energy and pragmatic actions were needed to drive global growth and power the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and called for durable, stable policies to meet the growing demand for energy.

“The world is finally waking up to the fact that energy is the solution. Energy is the beating heart of economies, a key driver of prosperity and is fundamental to every aspect of human development. If we want a pro-growth world, we need pragmatic actions and policies that are pro-growth, pro-investment, pro-energy and pro-people,” he said.

Dr Al Jaber said that every energy option was needed and an ‘and-and’ approach that embraces diverse energy options was required to meet the rapid growth in worldwide demand.

“There will be almost 9 billion people on this planet by 2035 and in line with this growth, oil demand will increase from 103 million barrels per day (MBD) to at least 109 MBD. The LNG and chemicals will expand by over 40% and total electricity demand will surge from 9,000 GW to 15,000 GW, which is a staggering 70% increase. Hence we will need more LNG, more low-carbon oil, more nuclear and more commercially-viable renewables to meet all this demand,” he said.

UAE’s Pragmatic Approach

Dr Al Jaber explained how the UAE’s leadership has pursued a pragmatic ‘and-and’ approach, extending its energy leadership in oil and gas to renewables, nuclear, chemicals and low-carbon energies.

According to him, the UAE has built on seven decades of experience in oil and gas to produce the world’s least carbon-intensive barrels. The Emirates has diversified into new energies, investing in 51 GW of commercially-viable renewable energy globally through Masdar. The UAE has also added nuclear to its energy mix, with four reactors now generating 5.6 GW of electricity and providing 25% of the UAE’s power needs.

He also highlighted how with energy, AI has the potential to reshape the world. Applications like ChatGPT use 10 times as much energy as a simple Google search and are growing exponentially. By 2030, in the US alone, data centre power demand is expected to triple, accounting for more than 10% of US electricity use. One cannot scale AI without access to energy. Simply put, the true cost of AI is not just in code, it’s in kilowatts. The race for AI supremacy is essentially an energy play, he said.

Dr Al Jaber noted that those with easy access to energy supply and infrastructure will have a clear advantage over those who do not.

“This is where we see huge opportunities for the UAE to further invest and deepen partnerships with the US across multiple sectors, including the energy-AI nexus. It is also where XRG can play a critical role. It is designed to meet the fast-growing energy needs of AI in an ‘and-and’ world. Without energy, AI is just potential. With it, AI has the potential to reshape the world,” he added.