Adnoc bucks trend for upstream restraint

The Emirati heavyweight is doubling down on capacity expansion

The story of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Adnoc over the past year has, on a day-to-day basis, been little different to those of other major hydrocarbon producers worldwide—characterised by sharp spending cuts and project delays on the back of the price crash triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. But 2020 was also marked by a bullishness around fossil fuels’ long-term prospects that was at odds with global trends and the UAE federal government’s well-publicised clean energy drive. Just weeks after April’s oil market nadir, the company committed to a goal of raising crude production capacity by 25pc, to 5mn bl/d by 2030. And, in November, it adopted a $122bn five-year capex programme to both help