ADNOC to invest $6.2 billion in expanding natural gas business

ADNOC is writing another multibillion-dollar check to bolster its natural gas business, approving a $6.2 billion offshore project as it accelerates investment beyond crude oil.

The Abu Dhabi energy giant and partners TotalEnergies, Eni and China National Petroleum Corp. expect the Umm Shaif Gas Cap project to start producing in 2030, Bloomberg reports.

At full capacity, the project will deliver up to 600 million cubic feet of gas a day, about 10% of the UAE’s current consumption.

The package includes $5.1 billion of offshore contracts and a $365 million drilling program that will add 14 wells.

It’s the latest piece of ADNOC’s bigger expansion drive, which spans new gas fields, a major LNG buildout and a $150 billion spending plan aimed at growing both at home and abroad.

UAE boosting use of AI in physical world, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber says

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and its top oil executive told a Washington audience that the country is moving to a new stage of artificial intelligence, using the technology to run business operations and develop its infrastructure.

“In the first phase AI helped generate content. It helped analyze information and automate workflows,” Dr. Al Jaber said Wednesday in a webcast interview with the Atlantic Council. “In the next phase, AI is helping us operate physical systems through robotics, autonomous inspections, intelligent infrastructure, and real-time operational optimization,” he said.

Dr. Al Jaber, who is Group CEO of the UAE’s ADNOC national oil company, linked AI directly to energy production and said the firm is deploying thousands of agentic AI and robotic applications. “The AI race is an electron race, and countries that can provide reliable, scalable, and affordable power will have a major competitive edge and a major strategic advantage,” he said, speaking from his office in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE has emerged as one of the world’s most aggressive state-backed AI investors through firms such as G42 and MGX. UAE funds have invested in OpenAI, xAI and Anthropic, while G42 teamed up with Nvidia on the massive Stargate data center project in Abu Dhabi.

The Emirati cabinet minister said government funds will continue to put money into U.S. companies despite disruptions from the Iran war and volatility in global oil markets.

“We invest in America because we believe in America,” Dr. Al Jaber said. “We believe in its energy resources, its capital markets, its innovation ecosystem, and its people and the quality of the ecosystem that has been created that helps attract investments.”

The minister’s remarks at the Atlantic Council event come as the UAE tries to protect its oil exports from disruptions tied to the Iran war after shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was severely affected and facilities linked to ADNOC were targeted during the conflict.

The UAE, one of the world’s largest oil exporters, formally announced on April 28 that it would withdraw from OPEC, with the decision taking effect on May 1. Officials argued that OPEC production quotas were limiting Abu Dhabi’s ability to expand output despite billions of dollars in investment in new oil capacity.

Abu Dhabi’s IHC signs deal for co-investments with U.S. agency

International Holding Co., the vast Abu Dhabi conglomerate overseen by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, has inked a deal to co-invest with the U.S. government’s foreign investment arm.

The agreement with the International Development Finance Corp. opens the way for collaboration across a broad swath of sectors, including energy, infrastructure, mining, port operations and data centers.

It will focus on projects spanning emerging and frontier markets, with the ability to “deploy capital at scale,” IHC announced.

The deal is unconventional for the DFC, which traditionally funds development projects in lower- and middle-income countries, and comes amid shifting U.S. priorities abroad under President Donald Trump.

KKR to invest in Gulf Data Hub’s seven branches across region

KKR plans to invest in Gulf Data Hub, one of the largest independent data center platforms in the Middle East, amid skyrocketing global data consumption driven by AI and cryptocurrencies.

The announcement will make the global investment firm a major player in the regional data storage market, as GDH owns a portfolio of seven state-of-the-art data centers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and additional facilities planned in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, Bloomberg reports.

Prior investments by KKR in the region include a strategic partnership with ADNOC to create ADNOC Oil Pipelines.

The fund also acquired a commercial aircraft portfolio from Etihad Airways in 2020 through Altitude Aircraft Leasing.