Adnoc presses the upstream accelerator

Abu Dhabi has resumed the chase towards long-term capacity targets

State-owned heavyweight Adnoc is ramping its spending back up, buoyed by oil prices above $70/bl and the prospect of Opec+ cuts winding down in the second half of the year. The focus, somewhat unfashionably, remains on upstream oil and gas. The emirate’s government defiantly signalled confidence in the oil sector’s future—or at least determination to squeeze the maximum income from it in the time remaining—in April last year. Despite prices touching a two-decade nadir, it set a 5mn bl/d 2030 capacity target for its NOC, an increase of around 25pc. Various contributing projects were paused at the design stage for the duration of the market slump. In part, this was due to Adnoc’s IOC partners