Adnoc sets up oil trading business unit

abu dhabi — Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is setting up a new trading unit to handle its crude oil and refined products, part of the state-run firm’s efforts to expand its international business and secure new markets.

The new business will be part of Adnoc’s Marketing, Sales and Trading Directorate, the company said in a statement on Monday.

“The unit will introduce and manage non-speculative trading to further maximise value from every barrel of crude oil and refined product that is produced and marketed by the company,” Adnoc said.

“We are in the process of hiring trading experts in key positions,” Abdulla Salem Al Dhaheri, director of Adnoc’s Marketing, Sales and Trading Directorate, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference.

Adnoc has hired Philippe Khoury, a former senior HSBC banker, to head the new trading business, Dhaheri said.

Overseas expansion

Adnoc is looking to expand its downstream business abroad and has looked at possible opportunities in India and Asia, Dhaheri said.

He said the company has not yet identified specific opportunities for its expansion abroad, which could be through acquisitions.

“Part of our strategy is moving towards partnerships allowing Adnoc to access international markets,” he said.