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UAE President Okays Board of ADNOC Global Investment Arm

FILE PHOTO: General view of the ADNOC headquarters is seen in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 23, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: General view of the ADNOC headquarters is seen in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 23, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed//File Photo
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UAE President Okays Board of ADNOC Global Investment Arm

FILE PHOTO: General view of the ADNOC headquarters is seen in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 23, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: General view of the ADNOC headquarters is seen in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 23, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed//File Photo

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan approved a board of directors for XRG, state oil giant ADNOC's new international investment arm, including Blackstone's Jon Gray and former BP boss Bernard Looney, ADNOC said on Thursday.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company announced last month it was setting up XRG, saying it was worth over $80 billion and would focus on lower-carbon energy, including gas, and chemicals.

Sultan Al Jaber, ADNOC's chief executive, was appointed XRG's executive chairman.

Along with Gray and Looney, the board also included Egyptian

Nassef Sawiris, UAE Investment Minister and CEO of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Chairman of the UAE president's office for strategic affairs Ahmed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, and Jasem Al Zaabi, chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Finance and telecoms conglomerate e&.

ADNOC has done a string of deals in gas, LNG and chemicals, which it considers pillars for its future growth alongside renewables. UAE state-owned renewables firm Masdar, in which ADNOC has a 24% stake, has also made several acquisitions.

ADNOC struck a deal in October to buy German chemicals maker Covestro for $16.3 billion, including debt. Covestro last month said its management and supervisory boards supported the takeover offer, which will be one of the largest foreign acquisitions by a Gulf state and ADNOC's largest.

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Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia and Japan are close to unveiling a higher partnership council that will be headed by the countries’ leaderships in line with efforts to build a partnership that bolsters the technical transformation and joint research in clean energy, communications and other areas, revealed Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the two countries will soon open a new chapter in their sophisticated strategic partnership.

The new council will be chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to push forward the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030, he added.

The council will elevate cooperation between the countries and pave the way for broader dialogue and consultations in various fields to bolster political, defense, economic, cultural and sports cooperation, he explained.

The two parties will work on critical technological partnerships that will focus on assessing and developing technologies to benefit from them, Binzagr said. They will also focus on the economy these technologies can create and in turn, the new jobs they will generate.

These jobs can be inside Saudi Arabia or abroad and provide employers with the opportunity to develop the sectors they are specialized in, he added.

Binzagr said Saudi Arabia and Japan will mark 70s years of relations in 2025, coinciding with the launch of Expo 2025 in Osaka in which the Kingdom will have a major presence.

Relations have been based on energy security and trade exchange with Japan’s need for oil. Now, according to Saudi Vision 2030, they can be based on renewable energy and the post-oil phase, remarked the ambassador.

Several opportunities are available in both countries in the cultural, sports and technical fields, he noted.

Both sides agree that improving clean energy and a sustainable environment cannot take place at the expense of a strong economy or quality of life, but through partnership between their countries to influence the global economy, he explained.

"For the next phase, we are keen on consolidating the concept of sustainable partnerships between the two countries in various fields so that this partnership can last for generations,” Binzagr stressed.

“I believe these old partnerships will last for decades and centuries to come,” he remarked.

Moreover, he noted that the oil sector was the cornerstone of the partnership and it will now shift to petrochemicals and the development of the petrochemical industry.