ADNOC

ADNOC’s history goes back to the first geological survey in Abu Dhabi in 1935, followed by the signing of the first oil concession in 1939. After decades of exploration, oil was discovered in the United Arab Emirates in 1958 at the Murban Bab field, and in late 1963 the first tanker of Abu Dhabi crude left the port of Jebel Dhanna.⁠[1]

As more fields were discovered and oil revenues grew, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company was established in 1971. In 1972 the Abu Dhabi Council of Ministers created the National Drilling Company (NDC), later ADNOC Drilling, which acquired its first rig, AD-1, in 1973; the rig now stands as a monument at the site of ADNOC Group’s headquarters on the Abu Dhabi Corniche.⁠[1]

ADNOC Distribution was established in 1973 as the first UAE government-owned company specializing in the domestic and international marketing and distribution of petroleum products. It opened a lubricants blending and packaging plant at Sas Al Nakhl in Abu Dhabi in 1979 and began refuelling aircraft at Abu Dhabi International Airport in 1982.⁠[1]

In 2013 ADNOC Distribution acquired 75 service stations in the five Northern Emirates from Emarat, and the following year took over 25 stations in Sharjah from Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc). In 2017 ADNOC Distribution shares began trading on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).⁠[1]

In 2020 ADNOC struck a US$20.7 billion pipeline deal with six global investors, expected to bring it more than US$10 billion in upfront proceeds. That November ADNOC and ADQ formed a joint venture, Ta’ziz, to develop an industrial chemicals hub in Abu Dhabi. In March 2021 ADNOC’s flagship crude, Murban, began trading as a futures contract on the new ICEICEICE (Intercontinental Exchange) is a US financial-market infrastructure company founded in 2000. It operates exchanges and clearing services, fixed-income and data businesses, and mortgage technology. Its businesses include the New York Stock Exchange; founder Jeffrey Sprecher is chair and CEO.Open the full entry Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) exchange.⁠[1]

ADNOC also formed the Abu Dhabi Hydrogen Alliance with MubadalaMubadala Investment CompanyMubadala Investment Company (Mubadala) is a sovereign investor wholly owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi. It was formed in 2017 by the merger of the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), founded in 1984, and Mubadala Development Company, founded in 2002, and absorbed the Abu Dhabi Investment Council the following year; as of the end of 2025 it managed about AED 1.4 trillion (US$385 billion) in assets, with business in more than 80 countries.Open the full entry and ADQ, and, in partnership with Fertiglobe, sold its first cargo of “blue ammonia” to Japan’s Itochu. As of August 2021 ADNOC was producing about 3.5 million barrels of oil per day.⁠[1]

On March 13, 2023 ADNOC Gas plc listed on ADX under the symbol ADNOCGAS. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company PJSC sold about 5% of ADNOC Gas, raising gross proceeds of about US$2.5 billion at AED 2.37 per share, for a market capitalization of about US$50 billion at admission, with total demand of more than US$124 billion; after the listing ADNOC owned about 90% of ADNOC Gas. ADNOC Gas was the fifth company ADNOC had brought to market.⁠[2]

In October 2024 ADNOC agreed to buy the German chemicals maker Covestro for an enterprise value of €14.7 billion. On November 27, 2024 ADNOC launched XRG, an international lower-carbon energy and chemicals investment company with an enterprise value of more than US$80 billion, due to start operations in the first quarter of 2025 and aiming to double its asset value over the next decade through investments in chemicals, natural gas and LNG, and low-carbon energy.⁠[3]

On March 3, 2025 OMV and ADNOC signed a binding agreement to combine their shareholdings in Borealis and Borouge into a new company, Borouge Group International, in which each would hold 46.94%; it was to be headquartered and domiciled in Vienna, Austria, with a regional headquarters in Abu Dhabi, and listed on ADX. ADNOC also signed a share purchase agreement with Nova Chemicals Holdings GmbH, an indirectly wholly owned company of Mubadala Investment Company, to buy 100% of Nova Chemicals for an enterprise value of US$13.4 billion, with Borouge Group International to acquire Nova Chemicals on completion.⁠[4]

In June 2025 a consortium led by XRG, including ADQ and Carlyle, made a US$19 billion indicative offer for Santos, the Australian gas producer, and withdrew it that September. In September 2025 XRG closed the acquisition of an 11.7% stake in the first phase of the Rio Grande LNG project in Texas, and ADNOC said it was transferring to XRG its stakes in its ADX-listed companies ADNOC Distribution, ADNOC Drilling, ADNOC Gas and ADNOC Logistics and Services, with its entire Fertiglobe stake already held through XRG.⁠[5]

In December 2025 XRG completed its voluntary public takeover offer to Covestro’s shareholders and a €1.17 billion capital increase; together with its indirect wholly owned subsidiary ADNOC International Germany Holding it held 95.1% of Covestro (11.68% and 83.43% respectively), ADNOC’s largest acquisition to date.⁠[5]

On March 31, 2026 XRG and OMV completed the formation of Borouge Group International, which also acquired Nova Chemicals and became the world’s fourth-largest polyolefins producer, with access to 13.6 million tonnes of annual production capacity; it is headquartered and tax-domiciled in Austria, with a regional headquarters in the UAE. The 1.4 million-tonne Borouge 4 project was then 70% owned by ADNOC and 30% by OMV.⁠[6]

In January 2026 XRG increased its stake in the Rio Grande LNG project by 7.6%, and it had acquired a stake in Azerbaijan’s Southern Gas Corridor company. As of March 2026 XRG had an enterprise value of more than US$150 billion.⁠[6]

Sultan Al Jaber is managing director and group chief executive of ADNOC and executive chairman of XRG.⁠[6]

ADNOC Distribution: Official website: https://www.adnocdistribution.ae/ (opens in a new window).⁠[7]