Adipec returned to Abu Dhabi this week with artificial intelligence and its increasingly embedded role in energy taking centre stage. The National is on the ground and this week’s newsletter brings you the key highlights so far from the mammoth event.

AI and energy

• Big Tech is a weighty presence alongside Big Oil at this year’s event. Microsoft’s Brad Smith shared the limelight with the chief executives of ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and Chevron. AI-driven energy systems are projected to create up to $1.3 trillion in economic value by 2030 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 to 10 per cent.
• According to a recent Adnoc-Microsoft survey, one-in-five energy companies have already integrated agentic AI, which makes autonomous decisions. Nearly 9 in 10 executives also view AI positively. In his opening speech at Adipec, Adnoc Group chief executive Dr Sultan Al Jaber highlighted the significant energy draw that AI entails and estimated that over $4 trillion annually is needed to meet growing energy demand that would include grids, and data centres. “The true cost of AI is not just in code, it’s in kilowatts,” he said. A new challenge for the industry is meeting soaring demand while addressing physical infrastructure limits, particularly around gas turbines and transmission grids.
• The chief executive of Sharjah-based Crescent Petroleum, Majid Jafer, writes for The National: “While AI feels virtual, its foundations are intensely physical.” The Gulf, especially the UAE, has the combination of energy, technology, finance and ambition to “export digital capacity and clean power intelligence”.
• The UAE's state oil giant Adnoc entered into several agreements on AI at Adipec. In an expanded deal with Microsoft, XRG and Abu Dhabi clean energy company Masdar, Adnoc will use agentic AI with the US tech giant providing tools and training. Adnoc will also work with Gecko Robotics on using robots and AI in maintenance and safety.

No oil oversupply, says UAE minister

• Oil prices saw a third consecutive monthly decline in October and trading on Friday was volatile after US military activity near Venezuela. Brent closed at $64.77 per barrel, down almost 1 per cent in the week. But UAE oil minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told Adipec that “I am not going to talk about an oversupply scenario, I can't see that ... what we're seeing is more demand”. Opec+ agreed to raise production limits again by 137,000 barrels per day next month, but then to keep them steady for the first quarter of next year.
• Fuel prices in the UAE dropped sharply, with Special 95 petrol falling 5.63% to Dh2.51 per litre. UAE fuel retailer Adnoc Distribution achieved a 21.5% profit growth in Q3 due to rising fuel sales volumes, hitting a record 11.7 billion litres in sales during the first nine months of the year. The company also plans to roll out family-friendly petrol stations with playgrounds.
• Regionally, Iraq, Opec’s second-largest oil producer, said it has achieved self-sufficiency in petrol, diesel and kerosene after launching new refineries and plans to stop imports. Libya’s oil minister Khalifa Abdulsadek told Adipec the country would raise its production to 1.8 million barrels per day in 2027, from 1.4 million bpd today, by redeveloping older fields.

Gas and power

• Significant gas deals emerged at Adipec. Shell signed a 15-year contract with Adnoc to buy 1 million tonnes of LNG annually from the upcoming Ruwais liquefaction plant, due to start by 2028. Adnoc’s international investment arm, XRG, entered agreements to develop a floating LNG export plant in Argentina with YPF and Italy’s Eni with 12 million tonnes per year of capacity. It also acquired a stake in Azerbaijan’s Southern Gas Corridor company, which owns shares in the Caspian nation’s crucial gas fields and export pipelines.
• Nimex Terminals and AD Ports committed over $8 billion to establish the UAE’s first private LNG and LPG (liquefied natural and petroleum gas) terminal hubs at Khalifa Port.
• The world’s changing gas geography means Europe needs to look to all compass points for its gas – except its neighbour Russia, writes Robin Mills. Gas from the Middle East and Caspian via Turkey or LNG will play a vital role in the continent’s energy security.
• Meanwhile Toby Rice, chief executive of EQT, one of the US’s biggest gas producers, told Adipec that more US LNG exports would reduce the country’s trade deficit. The Appalachian player wants to start exporting about 10 per cent of its production, particularly to Asia.

Clean energy momentum

• Renewables, including wind, solar, and hydropower, became the world’s largest electricity source in the first half of 2025, overtaking coal for the first time, the International Energy Agency said. UAE utility company Taqa sold its lignite coal power plant in India, as part of its energy transition plans
• Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power secured $10 billion in clean energy deals across the Gulf, Africa and Asia, underscoring the region’s commitment to renewable energy growth.

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