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ADNOC Gas plans to invest over $13 billion in domestic and international growth opportunities over the next five years, as it looks to ramp up exports in a growing global market.
Investments, including $4.9 billion in contracts awarded in 2023, are expected to drive the company’s future growth, with a focus on decarbonization, digital transformation, and AI-driven technological innovation, the company said in a statement on the ADX on Monday.
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the chairman of ADNOC Gas said: “Between 2024 and 2029, we plan to invest over $13 billion in domestic and international growth opportunities, with our predictable margin business expected to increase our EBITDA by up to 40% by 2029."
He said the integrated gas company is looking to increase LNG export volumes in a growing global market. "Our aim is to acquire the new Ruwais LNG plant and more than double our LNG production capacity by 2028.”
In its first-quarter gas market report, the International Energy Agency said global gas demand is set to pick by 2.5% year on year in 2024 to or 100 billion cubic metres (bcm), on the back of expectations of a colder winter and lower prices.
The market is also likely to be impacted by an extended US ban on LNG export projects, providing an opportunity for gas producers elsewhere like ADNOC Gas to ramp up the infrastructure.
ADNOC Gas is also well-positioned to benefit from ADNOC’s planned expansion of oil production capacity to five million barrels per day by 2027. ADNOC has announced its intention to take a final investment decision (FID) on the Ruwais LNG project in 2024, which ADNOC Gas plans to acquire.
Meanwhile, ADNOC Gas shareholders approved the board's proposal to distribute a full-year 2023 dividend of $3.25 billion. An inaugural interim cash dividend of $1.625 billion was paid in December 2023, with a further $1.625 billion scheduled for distribution in the second quarter of 2024.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)