Adnoc, Eni and OMV incorporate new landmark trading joint venture

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) on Wednesday announced that it has closed its landmark strategic equity partnerships with Eni and OMV covering both the existing Adnoc Refining business and a new trading joint venture (JV). The agreement, which was announced in January of this year, includes one of the world’s largest-ever refinery transactions.

Under the terms of the deal, Eni and OMV have acquired 20 per cent and 15 per cent shares respectively in Adnoc Refining, which refines in excess of 922,000 barrels per day of crude and condensate at its Ruwais and Abu Dhabi based refineries. The transaction reflects the scale, quality and growth potential of Adnoc Refining’s assets. Ruwais is the 4th biggest single-site refinery in the world and is the focus of further expansion and integration to develop the world’s largest single-site refining and petrochemicals complex. As a zero heavy fuel oil capable Refining business, it is well positioned for IMO 2020 (the new regulatory cap on Sulphur emissions for marine fuel). Expanding its refining and petrochemical operations at Ruwais supports Adnoc as it evolves to become a leading global downstream player.

Adnoc, Eni and OMV have now incorporated a new trading joint venture, Adnoc Global Trading, at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Adnoc Global Trading will focus on direct sales of products from the refinery to customers, primarily in Asia, and in emerging markets. This will enable the entity to capture trading value throughout the entire supply chain. Adnoc is building out its trading activity and capabilities in order to better optimise and commercialize its assets and product flows to deliver greater value from its operations.

Physical and derivative trading is expected to begin in 2020 when all necessary processes, procedures and systems are in place. Eni and OMV will provide Adnoc with know-how, operational experience and support to accelerate the development of the trading joint venture, enabling Adnoc and its partners to optimize their systems and better manage their international product flows. The partners hold the same shareholding in the trading joint venture as in Adnoc Refining.

These strategic partnerships with Eni and OMV are another example of Adnoc’s group-wide transformation and value creation strategy in response to an evolving energy landscape. This will ensure Adnoc remains a resilient and flexible company that can take full advantage of market opportunities.

Adnoc is one of the world’s leading energy and petrochemicals groups with a daily output of about 3 million barrels of oil and 10.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas. With 14 specialist subsidiary and joint venture companies, Adnoc is a primary catalyst for the UAE’s growth and diversification. To find out more

Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company (Takreer), which today trades as Adnoc Refining, was formed as a separate entity in 1999 to take over the responsibility of refining operations from Adnoc Group. Its operations cover crude oil and condensate refining, and the supply of petroleum products. Adnoc Refining operates three refineries: Ruwais East and Ruwais West in Ruwais, as well as Abu Dhabi Refinery in Abu Dhabi, with a total refining capacity in excess of 922,000barrels per day. Adnoc Refining employs approximately 4,700 staff.

Meanwhile the National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC), in conjunction with its joint venture (JV) partner Petrofac, has secured a new contract with Al Yasat Petroleum (an Adnoc Group company, and JV with CNPC) to provide Front End Engineering Design (FEED) services for the Belbazem Block Development Project, located offshore Abu Dhabi, UAE. The scope of work includes the submission of a FEED package and proposal for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of the facilities, with the execution of the EPCI work to be awarded on a design competition basis.

Eng. Ahmed Al Dhaheri, CEO of NPCC, said: “We are delighted to have won this competitive bid and participate in the design competition, and we look forward to the successful delivery of our scope in collaboration with our partners at Petrofac. Adnoc and its Group Companies are strategic partners and valued clients to NPCC, and we have together achieved a number of milestones including the recent load-out of one of the world’s largest offshore oil platforms to mark the completion of phase two of Umm Lulu’s super complex development. We are committed to supporting Adnoc’s expansion plans to increase their production capacity from 4 million b/d by the end of 2020 to 5 million b/d by 2030, and we look forward to executing more onshore and offshore projects in Abu Dhabi and the UAE.”

Mani Rajapathy, Managing Director, Petrofac EPS East, said: “This award continues to demonstrate our competitive profile in the UAE at the early stages of a project’s development. It complements the wider contracts that we are already engaged in across the Adnoc Group, further deepening our relationship with an important customer in this core market.”