His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and His Excellency, Mr. Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation met to explore potential opportunities for collaboration as ADNOC seeks to expand its strategic partnership and investment base across its entire value chain.
The discussions between H.E. Dr. Al Jaber and H.E. Mr. Novak coincided with the 24th meeting of the World Energy Congress in Abu Dhabi and builds on a previous meeting, which took place in July 2019 in Moscow.
H.E. Dr. Al Jaber said: “Building on the strong bilateral relationship, which exists between the UAE and Russia, there is significant potential for further collaboration on energy issues. ADNOC is open to exploring partnership and co-investment opportunities across the full value chain as we seek to develop ties with new global partners who share our vision and determination to forge strategic, value added and commercial partnerships.”
During the visit, H.E. Mr. Novak was given a tour of Abu Dhabi and visited ADNOC’s pioneering Panorama digital command center to see how ADNOC is using big data technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) to help extract maximum value from its assets and resources.
H.E. Mr. Alexander Novak noted that the Russian Federation is keen to explore partnership opportunities across the entire upstream and downstream energy sector with the UAE. “Co-operation in the field of energy has enormous potential. Promising areas for collaboration between companies from Russia and the UAE lie in the development of trading activities in hydrocarbons as well as joint projects in the fields of mining and trading.”
The Panorama Digital Command Center draws from a massive set of data points across the company visualizing it on a state of the art 50-meter wide video wall to provide a single point to ADNOC’s real time performance. Using smart analytical models and increasingly leveraging advanced AI platforms, it uses big data to generate operational insights and recommend new, integrated pathways to optimize and enhance performance and create additional value. The center aggregates accurate, real time information from ADNOC’s operations and businesses, presenting data at a Group-wide level but also giving access to information from individual assets.
The Russian Federation has the largest natural gas reserves and the eighth largest oil reserves of any country in the world. Bilateral trade between Russia and the UAE increased by 21 per cent in 2018 to approximately 11 billion AED. Relations were further strengthened last year when HH Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces met President Putin and both leaders signed a declaration of strategic partnership covering political, security and economic spheres.
The expanded approach to partnership is a key element of ADNOC’s 2030 smart growth strategy, focused on growth and opportunity across the upstream and downstream businesses. In the last year, ADNOC has accelerated its focus on efficiency, commerciality, value creation and the development of new revenue streams through synergistic partnerships. Initiatives announced in the last twelve months include creating the world’s largest exporter of nitrogen fertilizer, in a joint venture with OCI; combining assets with Baker Hughes to form a fully integrated drilling services business; establishing the foundation for a global world class trading arm with ENI and OMV; and just last month we secured a 10 per cent stake in the global storage and terminal operator VTTI. With operations in 14 countries across the US, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, this strategic investment significantly enhances ADNOC’s storage and trading capabilities, allows us to more nimbly respond to evolving customer needs, and helps us capitalize on new market growth around the world.
ADNOC is on track to increase its crude oil production capacity to 4 million barrels per day (mmbpd) by 2020, and 5mmbpd by 2030, while becoming self-sufficient and eventually a net exporter of natural gas. In addition, a significant expansion of the downstream business is underway, centered on the Ruwais industrial hub, where substantial foreign direct investment has already been attracted with the aim of creating the world’s largest fully integrated refining and petrochemicals complex.
