ADNOC Awards 4% Stake to China's ZhenHua Oil Company in Onshore Concession

Dr. Sultan al-Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC and Liu YiJiang, Chairman of ZhenHua Oil Company, sign the concession contract. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Dr. Sultan al-Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC and Liu YiJiang, Chairman of ZhenHua Oil Company, sign the concession contract. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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ADNOC Awards 4% Stake to China's ZhenHua Oil Company in Onshore Concession

Dr. Sultan al-Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC and Liu YiJiang, Chairman of ZhenHua Oil Company, sign the concession contract. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Dr. Sultan al-Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC and Liu YiJiang, Chairman of ZhenHua Oil Company, sign the concession contract. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

North Petroleum International Company, a subsidiary of China ZhenHua Oil Co. Ltd, acquired four percent stake in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's (ADNOC) onshore concession, previously held by CEFC China Energy Company Limited (CEFC China).

ADNOC said ownership change, which was approved by Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council, came in line with the UAE leadership’s directives to grant access to Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas concessions to partners who offer technology, operational experience, capital or market access.

"China ZhenHua Oil’s acquisition of the four percent stake in the onshore concession underlines the continued pull of the UAE as a leading global energy and investment destination, backed by a strong, stable and secure commercial environment," said UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber.

"With China ZhenHua Oil, we will pursue mutually beneficial cooperation, share business growth opportunities and work together as we deliver on our 2030 smart growth strategy,” Jaber added.

China ZhenHua Oil is 100 percent indirectly owned by the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, a Chinese government agency that supervises and manages over a hundred state-owned assets and enterprises in a variety of sectors, including oil and petrochemicals and transport.

Chairman of China Zhenhua Oil Liu Yijiang, for his part, said that ADNOC has succeeded over the past several decades in developing a number of oil fields in Abu Dhabi's large limestone and carbonated reservoirs.

"As a new partner in UAE’s upstream sector, [China Zhenhua Oil] is honored to join the operating concession and will contribute its capabilities in technology, management and supply chains, which may maximize the benefits and value for all,” Yijiang added.

ZhenHua Oil operates 11 oil and gas upstream projects in six countries, with gross production of close to 10 million metric tons per year.

It is also in the fuel storage, transportation and refining business, with a trading desk in Singapore.

Following this step, China ZhenHua Oil will join the onshore concession and shareholders of ADNOC Onshore, including BP of the UK (10 percent), Total of France (10 percent), China National Petroleum Corporation (eight percent), Inpex Corporation of Japan (five percent), and GS Energy of South Korea (three percent) as participants in the onshore concession and shareholders of ADNOC Onshore.



Britain Vows to Toughen Its Trade Defenses Under New Strategy

Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Reynolds speaks during Britain's Labour Party annual conference, in Brighton, Britain, September 27, 2021. (Reuters)
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Reynolds speaks during Britain's Labour Party annual conference, in Brighton, Britain, September 27, 2021. (Reuters)
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Britain Vows to Toughen Its Trade Defenses Under New Strategy

Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Reynolds speaks during Britain's Labour Party annual conference, in Brighton, Britain, September 27, 2021. (Reuters)
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Reynolds speaks during Britain's Labour Party annual conference, in Brighton, Britain, September 27, 2021. (Reuters)

Britain said it would toughen up its trade defenses to better protect industries amid a turbulent global outlook of trade wars and tariffs that has shaped its new trade strategy to be published on Thursday.

Britain is set to partially implement a deal to remove some of US President Donald Trump's tariffs, but acknowledged that its trade remedies system needed to be more "agile, assertive, and accountable to guard British businesses against global turbulence".

"The UK is an open trading nation, but we must reconcile this with a new geopolitical reality and work in our own national interest," Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said.

"Our trade strategy will sharpen our trade defense so we can ensure British businesses are protected from harm."

As part of the strategy, the government will reform the Trade Remedies Authority.

UK Steel has said that the TRA's current powers, under which it proposed to cap how much of certain kinds of steel could be imported, needed to be more robust, and welcomed the trade strategy as a "critical turning point".

Britain is aiming to remove US tariffs on steel imports under their agreement, although the implementation of the deal has not been finalized.

The government has stepped in to take control of British Steel, and other industries are also seeking support, with AB Foods extending its deadline for deciding the fate of its Vivergo bioethanol plant to Thursday in the hope of a support package.

The trade strategy is Britain's first since it has had an independent trade policy after leaving the European Union.

The previous Conservative government hailed the opportunities of Brexit as it pursued several free trade agreements.

While the Labor government, which came to power a year ago, has concluded free trade agreement talks with India and is making progress on another with the Gulf Cooperation Council, it said the new strategy would focus on quicker and more practical deals than the previous government did.