Good morning, wonderful people, and happy FRIDAY. We close out the week with an energy-heavy issue, as Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week brings plenty of agreements, investments, and partnerships.

The UAE’s climate investment fund Alterra has pledged to set up a USD 1.2 bn climate investment vehicle with an anchor investment BBVA, while Beeah is making moves at home to push deeper into renewables and battery recycling, and Masdar finalized financial agreements for two projects abroad.

PLUS: Adnoc is reportedly eyeing Venezuela’s oil and gas industry as US President Donald Trump lobbies firms to invest there, while interim president Delcy Rodriguez plans reforms to facilitate investments.

WEATHER- Temperatures are set to cool down today, with strong winds and a high of just 23°C in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to the National Center of Meteorology. Expect an overnight low of 20°C in Dubai, and 18°C in the capital.

Watch this space

OIL AND GAS — Adnoc is considering a potential entry into Venezuela’s oil market through a partnership with another international energy firm, though any move would depend on clear legal and financial structures for investments in the country and coordination with the US, Bloomberg reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. US President Donald Trump, after capturing former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has been lobbying US oil firms to invest in Venezuela, though several have been skeptical due to the hefty costs that would come with rebuilding its gas industry.

Adnoc would make the push through its international investment arm XRG, which is currently also mulling participation in a liquefied natural gas project in Argentina, as it looks to secure a top-five global position in gas and petrochemicals.

This comes as Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez looks to submit a proposal to reform the country’s hydrocarbon law to allow investment flows into new fields, Reuters reports.

CAPITAL MARKETS — Lunate’s ETFs take Europe: Chimera Investment-backed Lunate became the first Abu Dhabi-based asset manager to launch UCITS ETFs in Europe, listing its debut AI and power-focused fund on the Deutsche Börse Xetra yesterday, it said in a press release (pdf). The new Boreas fund tracks AI, data, and power infrastructure — a clear play on the energy-transition-meets-tech theme currently dominating global capex cycles.

Why this matters: Lunate — which manages some USD 115 bn in AUM — is positioning itself to compete directly with global asset managers on their home turf, rather than just acting as a conduit for GCC capital flowing outward.

What’s next: A luxury-focused ETF is set to cross-list on Xetra and the ADX on 27 January. The dual listing creates a regulated instrument for UAE investors to access European luxury names (Hermès, Ferrari, LVMH) while simultaneously marketing the same basket to European traders. Subscriptions for UAE investors are open through 21 January. It also plans to list its quantum computing ETF in Europe later this year.

INVESTMENT — National Bank of Canada opens its first Dubai office: The National Bank of Canada is expanding into the UAE as Ottawa steps up efforts to deepen trade and investment ties with the country, according to a press release. The move coincides with an economic mission to the UAE led by Canadian International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu.

Why Dubai + why now? Client demand accelerated the decision, with Canadian companies increasingly traveling to and expanding in the UAE, particularly across mining, infrastructure, energy, and AI, Managing Director and head of the Middle East and North Africa Ali Fares told The Globe and Mail.

ICYMI- The UAE and Canada are set to begin negotiations on a trade agreement next month, Sidhu announced this week. The talks come after a bilateral visit last year saw the UAE commit USD 50bn in investments into Canada. Ottawa is keen to attract capital into liquified natural gas in particular, and Adnoc has been assessing Canadian natural gas projects.

INVESTMENT — Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company is among several backers taking a minority stake in Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL), after Reliance Industries carved its FMCG business into a standalone entity.

About Reliance: India’s largest listed conglomerate by market value, Reliance operates across energy, petrochemicals, telecoms, retail, and consumer brands. RCPL houses its FMCG portfolio — food, beverages, and daily essentials — plugged directly into Reliance Retail’s nationwide distribution network that reaches hundreds of mns of consumers.

The structure: Thirteen financial investors, including Mubadala, now collectively own 16.45% of RCPL, with Reliance retaining majority control. TPG, Silverlake, KKR, GIC, and Qatar Investment Authority were among other backers taking stakes, however neither individual stake sizes nor investment values were disclosed.

INVESTMENT — UAE investors continue to tap Asia’s digital infrastructure plans: State AI firm G42 is considering investing USD 300-500 mn to establish a data center in the Philippines over the next three to five years, Philippine Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda said during a press briefing.

They’re not the only ones: Dubai-based digital infrastructure developer Damac Digital is mulling investing at least USD 1 bn to establish another data center project in the country.

REMEMBER- The two UAE entities have been expanding their presence across several developing Asian countries. G42 is reportedly in talks to establish a USD 2 bn hyperscale data center in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City and is partnering with the Thailand International Digital Business and Finance Center to upgrade the country’s digital infrastructure. Meanwhile, Damac’s data center arm Edgnex is set to invest USD 2.3 bn to develop an AI-powered data center in Indonesia and committed USD 1bn for data centers in Thailand.

OPEN FINANCE — UAE fintechs Lean Technologies and Ziina have debuted the country’s Open Finance payments network through the first customer-initiated transaction under the Central Bank of the UAE’s framework, according to a statement (pdf). Ziina users can now add funds or make payments directly from their bank accounts via secure APIs, bypassing manual transfers or third-party gateways. Lean Technologies provides the regulated technical infrastructure to facilitate the transactions.

This is the first practical application of the CBUAE’s Nebras and Al Tareq frameworks in the wild. In December, Commercial Bank of Dubai became the first bank to adopt the Open Finance ecosystem, after several fintechs were onboarded onto the framework, followed by First Abu Dhabi Bank. The banks now allow individual customers to link their current and savings accounts with third-party applications to share financial information and initiate payments.

DISRUPTION WATCH — Air carriers were forced to reroute and cancel flights after Irantemporarily closed its airspace yesterday amid domestic unrest and threats from Washington. Iran reopened its airspace after some five hours on Wednesday, but many airlines are still opting to continue using alternative routes.

An Emirates A325 flight departing from Seoul was forced to reroute to Islamabad, landing there after not being granted permission into Iranian airspace, before making its way to Dubai, according to data from FlightAware. European airlines including Wizz Air, Lufthansa, and British Airways were also impacted, with a Wizz Air spokesperson saying that to avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace, westbound flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be making crew change and and refuelling stops in Cyprus or Greece instead.

Data point

#5 — the UAE passport’s ranking on the 2026 Henley Passport Index (pdf), up from 10thlast year. Emirati passport holders enjoy similar levels of no-visa and visa-on-arrival access this year, with no-visa entry dropping just one point to 184 while other countries saw bigger dips. The index — which puts us on par with Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia — measures passport strength solely by quantitative no-visa and visa-on-arrival access, using data from the International Air Transport Association.

So why is the UAE ranked first, or 10th, elsewhere? Other passport indices apply different methodologies and timelines. For example, Arton Capital’s Passport Index, which recently ranked the UAE first globally for the seventh consecutive year, assigns a greater weight to the visafree score and considers UNDP Human Development Index scores as a tie-breaker. The Nomad Passport Index, which ranked the UAE as 10th, takes into account taxation (20%), global perception (10%), dual citizenship options (10%), personal freedom (10%), and travel freedom (50%).

PSAs

Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall metro station is getting bigger: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority inked an agreement with Emaar Properties to expand Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall metro station’s total area to 8.5k sqm from 6.7k sqm, according to a press release. The expansion will increase the station’s hourly passenger capacity to 12.3k, up 65%, with a daily capacity of 220k users. The station is set to see new escalators, platform areas, fare gates, and commercial spaces.

UAE homebuyers can now get a same-day view of what they can borrow, after our friends at Mashreq rolled out a fully digital home loan pre-approval tool that lets salaried expatriates check eligibility and borrowing capacity online before committing to a property, with pre-approval letters issued the same day, according to a press release.

The service applies only to purchases in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and requires a minimum monthly income of AED 15k.

Abu Dhabi Customs launches Golden List to speed pharma trade: Abu Dhabi Customs, in partnership with the Emirates Drug Establishment, added 31 pharma companies to a new list — the Golden List — that would benefit from fast-tracked customs clearance and shipment approvals at Abu Dhabi ports.

How it works: The first phase includes 31 companies and provides a range of perks within the emirate’s customs system, including accelerated release procedures and automatic accreditation by registration authorities.

The big story abroad

Taiwan and the US have clinched a trade agreement that will lower tariffs for Taiwanese exports, including semiconductors, in the exchange for a USD 250 bn commitment from Taiwanese firms to expand US energy production, the US’ Commerce Department said. This includes a USD 100 bn commitment from semiconductor powerhouse TSMC.

The terms of the agreement: Chipmakers expanding in the US will be able to import up to 2.5 times their new capacity of semiconductors and wafers with no additional tariffs during a specified construction period, while those that have already built chip production plants in the US can import 1.5 times their new US production capacity without paying further tariffs.

^^The must-read on the topic: US, Taiwan reach trade deal focused on semiconductors, US Commerce Department says

Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she offered US President Donald Trump her Nobel Peace Prize, during a meeting yesterday, as she looks to gain control over future governance in her country. Trump was publicly vying for the prize, which needless to say, cannot be transferred or revoked. (Reuters)

ALSO- Wall Street’s five giant banks —- Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citibank, and Bank of America — saw trading revenues reach a record USD 134 bn last year, as clients rushed to rebalance portfolios amid a wave of political uncertainty. (Bloomberg)

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Market watch

Opec sticks with “no surplus” argument: Opec expects global oil demand to rise by about 1.34 mn bbl / d in 2027, higher than the 1.39 mn bbl / d it anticipates this year, according to its monthly oil report (pdf). Demand for Opec crude looks stable at 43 mn bbl / d in 2026 — about 600k bbl / d above last year — and edges to 43.6 mn bbl / d in 2027.

Opec’s math points to balance: If Opec holds December’s production rate through this year, output would sit some 170k bbl / d below demand, according to Reuters ’ calculations based on the report.

Supply came in short late last year, with Opec+ output falling to 42.83 mn bbl / d, down 238k bbl / d from November, driven by cuts in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Venezuela.

What to look for next: The International Energy Agency's next monthly oil market report lands next week on 21 January. The agency hasn’t published its 2027 forecast yet, but this year’s first edition will cross-check Opec’s demand math. The oil cartel and its watchdog have lately been pushing conflicting narratives, with the IEA forecasting a wider surplus.

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