Q&A: SULTAN AL JABER, ADNOC CEO
1. What has happened at Adnoc over the last year?
We undertook a comprehensive review of our entire business to understand how to make our company more flexible, resilient and competitive. In the past year, we have achieved real progress and already delivered significant material improvements and operational efficiencies across the group.
With the foundations of Adnoc firmly reinforced, we are ready to embark on the next phase of our transformation – a new and dynamic partnership and co-investment approach, to create an Adnoc that is fit to both lead and compete in the new energy era.
2. In light of the evolving energy landscape, can you tell us more about this new expanded approach to partnerships and co-investment?
In this new energy era, we need to adopt more creative strategies and more flexible business models to capture growth. We have developed a new and expanded Adnoc approach to partnerships and created several highly compelling investment opportunities across our entire value chain.
Our new approach will firstly, allow us to unlock and maximise value and invest in growth. Secondly it will enable us to accelerate our growth, whilst improving integration across the Adnoc business. This more open partnership model will also enable us to more proactively and efficiently manage our asset portfolio and capital structure.
3. Can you give us some more details on these new partnerships and how you will more actively manage your portfolio?
These partnerships will span the entire Adnoc value chain; not just in upstream but in our midstream, refinery and petrochemical businesses as well. Examples of these new partnership and investment opportunities include, but are not limited to;
Upstream, where we will develop and grow a leading, fully-integrated drilling company. We will also continue to develop upstream concessions with value-added partners that may also seek to strategically partner with us in other parts of our value chain.
Midstream, where we are creating a new, innovative energy infrastructure venture to generate value and optimise our assets. This new venture might include the bundling of select Adnoc infrastructure assets such as oil, gas or refined products’ pipelines and storage facilities.
Downstream, we are further opening our downstream business to create new investment and partnership opportunities across our portfolio of refinery and petrochemicals assets. These new ventures will bring in partners to improve integration, realise synergies and expand both our technological capability and output to meet the rising global demand for petrochemical products.
As part of the more proactive management of our portfolio, we are also considering the IPO of minority stakes in some of our Adnoc service businesses which have attractive investment and growth profiles. Adnoc will remain a committed majority shareholder in any businesses that are listed.
But let me be very clear, we will not IPO Adnoc, the group holding company. Adnoc will remain fully owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi.
4. Why are these investment opportunities attractive to potential partners?
Our partners will benefit from select access to Adnoc’s world class asset base that is logistically advantaged and located in an investor-friendly and stable environment. Our new approach will also provide partners access to more flexible and agile supply chains, as well as some new and novel energy and petrochemical investment opportunities.
5. What are you looking for in an ideal partner for Adnoc? We are looking for partners who are forward thinking and fast acting. We want value-add partners who share our values and are willing to contribute both capital and technological expertise for the joint pursuit of growth opportunities and financial returns. The ideal partner will bring tangible strategic value to Adnoc including access to new markets and a willingness to invest alongside us, and across our entire value chain.