THIS MORNING: Production back up and running at Ruwais + Adia backs USD 3.2 bn India fund

Good morning, everyone. The UAE’s Hormuz workaround is now facing its own test, even as reconstruction wagers and refinery repairs show resilience elsewhere.

Iran’s blacklisting of 45 vessels, including Adnoc-owned tankers, is a direct hit to the UAE’s workaround tactics, threatening the shuttle and ship-to-ship transfer network it built to keep crude moving during the war. In today’s Big Story, we take a look at the benefits of — and problems with — the shuttle trade that has kept much of the UAE’s crude flowing over the past few months.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Adnoc has fully restarted production at Ruwais, the UAE’s largest refinery, while further afield, Arada is joining the growing list of Emirati players wagering on Syria’s reconstruction via a USD 7 bn agreement.

PLUS- ePointZero is acquiring 90% of pan-African power producer Azura Power Holdings, and Alpha Dhabi is doubling its commitment to its private credit JV with Mubadala Capital.

BUT FIRST- The UAE Defense Ministry intercepted a drone over Emirati waters yesterday, with authorities saying the UAV had come from Iran, after the US and Iran traded strikes for the first time in weeks. Iran’s armed forces said it had targeted US military bases in Jordan, as well as the Al Menhad airbase in the UAE, in retaliation for US strikes on Lark Island.

UAE authorities, however, have said Al Menhad wasn’t targeted and urged people to use only official sources of information to avoid the spread of rumors. In an X post, Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the UAE president, said, “the policy of targeting Arab Gulf states and Jordan has proved to be a failure,” and called for “realistic and sustainable political solutions” to the conflict.

Signs of severed trade ties with Iran are also evident, as traffic along the once-busy shipping route from Dubai Creek to Iran has largely dried up, the Financial Times reports. Coupled with increased US economic sanctions, the Emirates’ shunning of trade relations with Iran has cut off access to what was once a vital offshore hub for Iranian commercial activity.

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Alpha Dhabi puts more skin in the game

Alpha Dhabi has doubled down on its private credit JV with Mubadala, even as the underlying portfolio barely moved. ADX-listed Alpha Dhabi Holding is doubling its capital commitment to USD 1 bn in MICAD Credit JV and raising its ownership stake in the Mubadala Capital joint venture to 40% from 20%, according to a disclosure (pdf). The JV will also broaden its mandate beyond its existing US and European direct lending focus into other private credit strategies.

BACKGROUND- Mubadala and Alpha Dhabi formed the JV in 2023, with Mubadala holding an 80% stake. The JV has a joint target of USD 2.5 bn in private credit investments by 2028, leaning on Mubadala’s relationship with Apollo Global Management. It reached USD 1.6 bn in assets across 39 obligors in December after buying a USD 600 mn Apollo-managed European direct lending portfolio. It has since grown to roughly USD 1.7 bn, with the number of portfolio companies rising to 45 from 39.

What’s next: Watch for whether the extra commitment raises the JV’s USD 2.5 bn 2028 target or simply rebalances funding of the same target between the two partners. Also watch for the first agreements under the broadened mandate — Mubadala Capital’s own platform runs private equity, secondaries, venture capital, and credit-adjacent strategies alongside direct lending, so that’s the likely menu once “additional private credit strategies” get tested in practice.

Another day, another Adia India play

Adia backs USD 3.2 bn India fund: In its latest India play, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) took part in a roughly USD 2 bn fundraise by the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), India’s quasi-sovereign wealth fund, according to an NIIF statement. The specific value of Adia’s participation, which came through a subsidiary, was not disclosed. Overall, the Indian government anchored the close.

The bigger picture: So far, NIIF’s Infrastructure Fund II has raised INR 19k crore (USD 2 bn), putting it 60% of the way to its wider goal of INR 30k crore (USD 3.2 bn). The fund is targeting the energy, electric mobility, and transport sectors, with another INR 9k crore (USD 950 mn) also set to be deployed via co-investment capital.

ICYMI- Adia has been a key NIIF backer following its USD 1 bn investment in 2017 to become a shareholder and institutional investor in its master fund. NIIF itself has big ambitions and said last year that it aimed to double its AUM to USD 10 bn over 30 months. The fund is also reportedly looking to raise a USD 2 bn private credit vehicle.

This latest move combines two of Adia’s favorite investment targets: infrastructure and India. Last year, it committed to investing USD 500 mn in US power infrastructure firm Alpha Generations. The fund has also backed a succession of Indian IPOs in recent months, including Manipal Health Enterprises, KRN Heat Exchangers, and SBI Funds Management, while also anchoring a USD 1 bn India real estate fund.

Ruwais is back online

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has fully resumed production at Ruwais, the UAE’s largest refinery, months after a drone strike forced operations to halt, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. The 922k bbl / d facility has been running at full capacity for about a month, while exports of diesel, jet fuel, and naphtha have recovered to around 70% of pre-war levels.

BACKGROUND- The refinery was shut after an Iranian drone strike caused a fire back in March, after already running at reduced rates as Strait of Hormuz traffic constraints disrupted supplies. Ruwais is a major exporter of refined products, including diesel to Europe, making its return more significant as global product markets remain tight.

PSAs

Prices at the pump climb again: The UAE Fuel Price Committee has raised pump prices again for September, marking the second consecutive monthly increase, according to a post on X. The latest hike comes after petrol rose by around 6% in August, following July price cuts that offered brief respite from successive increases between March and June. Once again, diesel is seeing the sharpest increase this month, after a 72.4% spike in April following the outbreak of the war:

• Super 98 rises to AED 3.80, up from AED 3.60 in August (+5.6%);
• Special 95 rises to AED 3.69, up from AED 3.49 (+5.7%);
• E-Plus 91 rises to AED 3.61, up from AED 3.41 (+5.9%);
• Diesel rises to AED 4.30, up from AED 3.80 (+13.2%).

WEATHER- It’s still hotter in Abu Dhabi, with temperatures reaching 45°C before cooling to 31°C overnight, while Dubai will see a high of 41°C and a low of 33°C.

Data point

59 — that’s how many b’naires lived in the UAE last year, up 11.3% y-o-y, with a combined wealth of USD 201 bn, according to Altrata’s 2026 census (pdf). That placed it 14th among the top 15 countries for b’naires. It was also the only Middle Eastern country to feature in the top 15 list. Dubai held the lion’s share of b’naires, with 43 in total — adding two b’naires from last year and ranking eighth in the list of top 15 b’naire cities, tied with Shenzhen, China.

The growth in the UAE’s b’naire population came despite what Altrata said was a “challenging year” for Middle East b’naires amid the region’s reliance on hydrocarbon exports and weak oil markets. However, ongoing non-oil diversification activity and large sovereign infrastructure programs in Saudi Arabia and the UAE helped support capital inflows, the report said. Despite the challenges facing the region, the b’naire population grew a modest 5% y-o-y, according to Altrata.

BACKGROUND- Capgemini’s report on high-net-worth individuals’ wealth flows had also said Middle East wealth was down 1.5% last year, even as every other region recorded growth. The overall HNWI population also dropped 1.4%, with the report citing pressure on fiscal coffers from lower oil prices, weak labor markets, and regional instability as the primary drivers of the contraction.

Expect that trend to continue: The UAE — and the wider GCC — was well positioned to catch a larger intake of HNWIs relocating from countries like the UK in search of more favorable tax policies and investment environments. However, the regional war has prompted many HNWIs in the UAE to either leave or scout other locations for long-term residency, with inquiries for Henley & Partners’ UAE residence program down 13% in 1Q 2026.

Happening today

Middle East Energy is kicking off today at the Dubai World Trade Center and will run until Thursday, 3 September. The three-day exhibition — which was delayed from April due to the conflict — will host over 1.9k exhibitors. They will display their offerings and solutions in power generation, distribution, transmission, and storage to buyers from the energy sector.

The big story abroad

Political drama at the G20 finance meeting has top billing in the international press today, after Russia’s participation drew opposition from European officials. This week’s summit of finance ministers and central bankers in North Carolina marks Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov’s first time at a G20 meeting since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Amazon in hot water: The US Federal Trade Commission has filed a suit against Amazon, alleging that the e-commerce giant misled advertisers by manipulating the prices they paid to promote products on its platform. The suit, filed by a bipartisan coalition of 22 states, claims Amazon illegally made USD 20 bn by deceiving some 1.2 mn US advertising customers.

Logistics is big in Japan: US-based investment firm Ares Management, through its real estate arm, raised USD 4 bn for its fifth logistics development fund, which is almost 50% larger than its predecessor. The Japan Logistics Development Partners fund reached its maximum target, marking the unit’s largest closed-end institutional fundraise, drawing investments from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and insurers across four continents.

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