Adnoc, Austrian firms boost cooperation in energy sector

Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi oil giant, OMV and Borealis to explore new opportunities for collaboration in downstream sector

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) on Saturday signed two memoranda of understanding with OMV and another with Borealis to explore new opportunities for collaboration in the downstream sector.
The signing was attended by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Sebastian Kurz, Chancellor of Austria.
The agreements with OMV were signed by Dr Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO, and Dr Rainer Seele, chairman of the executive board and CEO of OMV. The agreement with Borealis was signed by Dr Al Jaber and Alfred Stern, CEO of Borealis.
Under the terms of the first MoU, Adnoc and OMV will evaluate new opportunities in petrochemical projects as a potential extension to their existing partnerships, and exchange knowledge and experience in refinery-petrochemical integration and optimisation. The two companies will also assess opportunities for petrochemicals marketing support.
The second MoU will see Adnoc and OMV jointly explore the potential of OMV's ReOil technology in Ruwais, Adnoc's integrated refining and petrochemicals hub in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi.
The third MoU will see Adnoc and Borealis jointly explore potential growth opportunities within the integrated polyolefin industry in key geographical markets.
Dr Al Jaber said: "The agreements with OMV build on, and further strengthen, our long-term partnership across the full oil and gas value chain... this is yet another stepping stone in our journey to grow Adnoc's downstream portfolio and establish Ruwais as a global refining and petrochemicals hub."
"The proposed agreement with Borealis, an existing strategic partner, will potentially create growth opportunities for our mutual benefit, and ensure we are well positioned to meet the growing demand for a variety of high-value refined and petrochemical products," he added.
Dr Seele said: "These agreements underline our commitment to the strategic partnership with Adnoc and our readiness to bring expertise and add value to this collaboration. Moreover, we are following our strategy of expanding the value chain and further strengthening our petrochemical business, as well as contributing to CO2 reduction through the circular economy concept of our ReOil process."
Stern said: "We want to build on our joint success in Borouge and continue to deliver 'value creation through innovation'. A sustainable development in Asia and the Middle East will show an increasing need and demand for high value, innovative polyolefin solutions. Borealis' proprietary technologies and market expertise can make significant contributions to the successful development of our partnership with Adnoc. As a committed, long-term partner to the UAE, Borealis and Adnoc have successfully built our joint venture Borouge. Building on our fruitful collaboration, we look forward to discovering value-add opportunities in the polyolefin industry with our trusted partner Adnoc, servicing our customers around the globe."
Adnoc and OMV collaborate in several areas across the full value chain from upstream to downstream. In January, OMV acquired a 15 per cent share in an Adnoc refinery in a transaction that values Adnoc Refining at an enterprise value of $19.3 billion. This followed an award by Adnoc to OMV in December 2018 of a 5 percent stake in the Ghasha ultra-sour gas concession for 40 years and 20 percent stakes in the SARB and Umm Lulu oil fields offshore concessions in April 2018.
Since 1998, Adnoc and Borealis have collaborated as joint venture partners in Borouge. Borouge is a leading petrochemicals company that provides innovative plastics solutions for several industries. With 4.5 million tonnes of annual capacity, Borouge is the world's largest integrated polyolefin complex.

• Abu Dhabi