Abu Dhabi Clears $122bn Adnoc Capex Plan for 2021-25

Abu Dhabi's Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC), in charge of the emirate's energy policy, has approved national oil company Adnoc's plan to invest dirhams 448bn ($122bn) over the next five years, Adnoc said on November 22.

"Adnoc's capex plan will enable it to drive upstream growth, progress downstream expansion and further strengthen the company's marketing and trading capabilities to ensure it maintains its competitiveness and industry leadership position over the next fifty years," the company said in a statement.

The SPC has also cleared Adnoc to award exploration blocks under Abu Dhabi's second competitive bidding round, which was kicked off in May last year. The blocks are estimated to hold billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of gas.

In addition, Abu Dhabi's crown prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed instructed Adnoc to look at opportunities in hydrogen, "with the ambition to position the UAE as a hydrogen leader."

Adnoc also announced the discovery of a major unconventional oil discovery onshore, which it estimated to be 22bn stock tank barrels in size. Company CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said the find sent "a strong signal that Adnoc is leaving no stone unturned in unlocking value from our abundant hydrocarbon resources to ensure the UAE remains a long-term and reliable energy provider to the world for decades to come."