Khaled reviews achievements of Adnoc’s trading businesses

His Highness Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, has visited Adnoc’s trading office at Abu Dhabi Global Market and reviewed the achievements of Adnoc’s trading businesses, Adnoc Global Trading and Adnoc Trading.

His Highness toured the trading floor, where he met Emirati commodity traders who are helping to create additional revenue streams through Adnoc’s expansion into new energy markets. He highlighted the role of Adnoc’s trading businesses in further strengthening Abu Dhabi’s position as a global trading hub while supporting the UAE’s growth into new energies and further diversifying the economy to continue driving sustainable economic development for Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

Launched in 2020, Adnoc’s trading companies have unlocked sizeable revenue streams for the company. Adnoc has also expanded its trading desks from refined products (such as gasoline, jet fuel, gasoil, and naphtha) and crude oil, to include liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), biofuels, sulphur and carbon, thereby capturing new market share and supporting the UAE’s growth into new energies.

His Highness was also briefed on how Adnoc is equipping UAE Nationals with skills and experience in international commodity trading through its Trading Academy. His Highness emphasised the leadership’s ongoing commitment to supporting Emirati youth as the bedrock of the country’s success, and its focus on investing in skills development in key strategic areas as a fundamental pillar of the UAE’s future growth.

AGT and AT employ over 100 Emiratis in the two trading companies, with more currently undertaking training to become traders through the academy. UAE Nationals are responsible for core trading functions, including physical trading, chartering for own flows and 3rd-party volumes, and derivatives trading including hedging.

During the visit, His Highness also endorsed plans to further expand ADNOC’s trading activities to support global energy security and reinforce the UAE’s position as an important player in global energy markets. ADNOC has established active trading offices in Singapore, expanded its trading operations with offices in Europe and plans to extend its operations to the United States.

Adnoc’s trading businesses harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology to manage risk, generate value, and ensure 100 per cent accuracy with every trade placed with counterparties. AGT trades refined products from Adnoc and other sources to the market while AT is focused on the trade of crude oil and LNG and is active on ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD), an independent futures exchange for the trade of Murban Futures contract derivatives.

Adnoc saves $500 million: Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi, Group Chief Sustainability & ESG Officer at Adnoc Group, said that Adnoc Group has been an early adopter of artificial intelligence techniques to achieve sustainability.

Last year, Adnoc implemented more than 30 artificial intelligence tools to improve the efficiency of its projects, resulting in savings of up to $500 million, in addition to reducing more than one million tonnes of carbon emissions.

In a statement to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of the Global Sustainability Forum in Abu Dhabi today, Al-Zu’bi added that the forum witnessed the launch of a digital platform for startups working in the field of artificial intelligence and sustainability systems to accelerate the achievement of sustainable development goals, in partnership with the CEO Sustainability Network and the IBM, to accelerate the application of artificial intelligence technologies at government and private levels.

He pointed out that the digital platform will receive all ideas from companies and individuals that can be applied in the UAE and the region, and will work with partners to pilot the AI solutions offered and benefit from these experiences, noting that the current focus is on building young Emirati and Arab cadres, thus enhancing the UAE’s position as a global beacon for the application of AI solutions in the field of sustainable development globally.

“The second edition of the Global Sustainability Forum, which kicked off today, witnessed the participation of more than 460 participants and 85 companies from the UAE and around the world, compared to 85 participants and 23 companies in the first edition of the forum held during COP28,” said Al-Zu’bi, noting that the forum has managed to achieve four times the targeted goals in one year.

The Forum is an open platform to build on the momentum and achievements of the first Global Sustainability Forum, held on the sidelines of COP28 and hosted by the UAE. It is also an opportunity to support the realisation of the global climate change goals set out in the UAE Consensus and pave the way for more fruitful outcomes ahead of the upcoming COP29 climate change conference.

Separately, Adnoc announced recently that it has signed an agreement to award a 3% participating interest in the SARB and Umm Lulu offshore concession to SOCAR.

This award builds on the strategic energy partnership between the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan and deepens Adnoc’s growing partnership with SOCAR across the energy value chain.

WAM