Adnoc forgoes seasonal break

The Emirati heavyweight is racing to bring on new gas production to exploit rampant global thirst for the resource

Summer is typically a quiet time for business in the Mideast Gulf, as executives decamp en masse to more temperate climes. But for the UAE’s state-owned Adnoc, this year the opposite is true. Contracting activity on major projects is continuing apace, funded by the proceeds from near-record oil and gas prices and galvanised by the world’s newfound thirst for additional supply. The brief sojourn of Adnoc’s CEO in France in mid-July was only to witness a personal plea to that effect from Paris, and to strike a fresh collaboration pact with long-time upstream partner TotalEnergies. Activity is hottest in the gas sector. In late July, contracts worth c.$2bn were awarded to the firm’s Adnoc Drill