Adnoc doubles down on petrochemicals

Global decarbonisation pressures notwithstanding, the Emirati giant is determined to extract maximum residual value from its crude oil endowment

The UAE’s state-owned Adnoc unveiled plans to plough $45bn from its bulging coffers into developing the world’s largest refinery and petrochemicals hub at the industrial city of Ruwais as far back as 2018. The Emirati behemoth’s announcement of FID on the $6.2bn Borouge 4 olefins complex at November’s Adipec conference proved it is defiantly maintaining its bullish outlook on oil-derived petchems—despite the oil price gyrations and explosion in consciousness of the need to start moving swiftly to a lower-carbon future. Adnoc’s downstream ambitions are necessarily evolving, but the Borouge scheme, a joint venture (JV) with Austrian chemicals company Borealis—an affiliate of Abu Dhabi’s state