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
Also in this section
8 January 2026
Indonesia and Malaysia are at the dawn of breathtaking digital capabilities. Their energy infrastructure must keep up with their ambitions
8 January 2026
The next five years will be critical for the North Sea, and it will be policy not geology that will decide the basin’s future
8 January 2026
The region’s access to versatile feedstock, combined with policy support, is setting it up to meet growing demand both at home and abroad
7 January 2026
No longer can the energy source be considered a sidekick to oil in the Middle East and neither should it step aside for less convincing alternatives
