Gulf’s oil heavyweights shop local

Aramco and Adnoc are channelling windfall oil revenues into furthering their government owners’ domestic economic development drives

NOCs Saudi Aramco and Adnoc are ramping up spending from coffers overflowing with oil revenue windfalls, frontloading investment programmes designed both to expand core upstream production and prepare their businesses to withstand the energy transition. In keeping with their owners’ national policies, the pair are also focusing efforts to ensure the proceeds from the resultant project activity boom flow back into their local economies. In late June, the Emirati heavyweight inked investment agreements worth some $5.7bn with the UAE’s domestic manufacturing sector, all aimed at serving Adnoc’s mushrooming procurement needs. A fortnight later, its Saudi counterpart said it had finalised similar