Abu Dhabi’s oil champion is getting the glossy New York Times treatment, with a spotlight on its strategic rebranding. Adnoc, under Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, is cast less as a passive money machine and more as an assertive dealmaker intent on building a “globally competitive energy company.” Al Jaber “totally transformed the company and the way that the oil sector is managed,” said Ben Cahill of the University of Texas. Qamar Energy’s Robin Mills echoed the sentiment, saying “[t]hey are trying to do a lot all at once.”

The piece zooms in on Adnoc’s beyond-oil blitz: Through its XRG arm, launched in late 2024, it has bought into the Rio Grande LNG plant in the US and stitched together gas stakes from Azerbaijan and Egypt to Mozambique. It’s coupling this with a tie-up with Austria’s OMV to form a global chemicals player under Borouge Group International, doubling down on nuclear at home, and eyeing Venezuela’s oil market, all while pulling in USD bns from international institutional investors.

Still, oil pays the bills — underwriting roughly 62% of government revenue, with output up more than 10% in two years to 3.6 mn bbl / d, making the UAE Opec’s third-largest producer. The takeaway? Hydrocarbons remain the muscle, but the playbook is widening to pump harder at home, shop globally, and turn diversification into both hedge and hard power.

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