Adnoc maps out chemicals future
The Emirati oil heavyweight’s downstream strategy takes firmer shape
State-owned Adnoc’s late-April acquisition of a 25pc stake in Austrian chemicals firm Borealis held by the emirate’s Mubadala investment vehicle in one sense merely shifted an asset from one government pocket to another. However, it was also symbolic of the increasing focus on petrochemicals by the NOC over the past six months. The period was bookended by concretisation of two multibillion-dollar petchems schemes at Ruwais, the emirate’s established downstream hub. In November, Borouge, a 24-year-old joint venture between Adnoc and Borealis, took FID on a $6.2bn fourth-phase expansion at its existing plant—raising capacity from 4.5mn t/yr to 6.4mn t/yr by 2025 and restoring its position as t

Also in this section
3 July 2025
The July/August 2025 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
2 July 2025
The global energy community will converge in Dubai on 10 December for a landmark event dedicated to shaping the future of natural gas across the region
30 June 2025
Government is sending out the right policy signals to support increased domestic gas development, but policy takes time to implement and even longer to yield results
27 June 2025
Gas-on-gas competition pricing has grown its share of consumption significantly over the past two decades, primarily at the expense of oil-price-escalation pricing, according to the IGU