Abu Dhabi’s State Oil Company Looks Beyond Oil

“All the News That’s Fit to Print” National WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2026 By Stanley Reed / Photographs by Natalie Naccache Until Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber was tapped to overhaul Abu Dha­ bi’s national energy company, it had been content to rake in the cash from large, low-cost oil fields. His mandate was to modernize the company, known as ADNOC, to make sure it could continue to sustain the economy and geo­ political ambitions of the United Arab Emirates. Mr. Al Jaber, who was appoint­ ed in 2016 by Sheikh Moham­ med bin Zayed, then the crown prince, has helped put ADNOC on the map as a global deal mak­ er, establishing the Emirates as a brasher rival to Saudi Arabia in the Organization of the Petro­ leum Exporting Countries. The oil giant has also given the Emir­ ates the money and muscle to in­ tervene in countries like Sudan and Yemen, raising tensions with neighbors like the Saudis. “He’s totally transformed the company and the way that the oil sector is managed,” said Ben Cahill, a director at the Center for Energy and Environmental Systems Analysis at the Univer­ sity of Texas. Now ADNOC, which was founded in 1971, is pushing be­ yond oil, a risky phase for the company. It aims for internation­ al acquisitions, especially in nat­ ural gas, where it aspires to be in the top five suppliers globally, and chemicals, renewables and other sectors. Mr. Al Jaber said ADNOC was open to participating in the de­ velopment of natural gas re­ sources in Venezuela, where the United States is trying to drum up investment after forcibly removing the South American country’s president and taking control of its energy industry. Through ADNOC’s acquisition arm, XRG, which Mr. Al Jaber set up in late 2024, the compa­ Abu Dhabi’s State Oil Company Looks Beyond Oil Having reshaped the company, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber wants to expand internationally, particularly in natural gas, chemicals and renewables.Jonathan Gray, the president of Blackstone, and his wife, Mindy, are active philanthropists, and first met the president of Tel Aviv University last year. Credit: Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber has helped put ADNOC, Abu Dhabi’s state oil company, on the map as a global deal maker.