A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
ADNOC Global Trading (AGT), which was established in 2020 to capture post-production value in the oil and gas sector, has ambitious plans to expand its global footprint, according to CEO Ahmed Bin Thalith.
Speaking to Joumanna Bercetche of Bloomberg in a video interview, the CEO said AGT had opened offices in Singapore and Geneva within five years and will launch a Houston office in the United States in 2027.
“Before 2020, ADNOC decided to add a new dimension to its activities by tapping into the trading space. This will add more value to ADNOC,” Thalith said.
Before AGT was set up, ADNOC used to sell 100% of its products on a Free on Board (FoB) basis. “Today, it is selling only 5% of products on FoB basis, and the rest we deliver to our customers across all continents. In FoB system, all the value after the port goes back to traders,” the CEO explained.
“We own the full value chain from the well, all the way to the distribution, and trading comes in and takes advantage of the whole operational excellence that we have with ADNOC,” Thalith said, outlining AGT’s mission.
“Our inception marked a transformative shift from long-term contracts to real-time market engagements, enabling us to generate substantial value for ADNOC,” Thalith added in a post on ADNOC’s website.
“Additionally, we have developed services to help various ADNOC entities hedge their positions, thereby reducing market risks and supporting strategic decision-making processes across the group.”
AGT is a joint venture between ADNOC (65%), Italy’s Eni (20%), and Austria’s OMV AG (15%).
According to ADNOC’s website, AGT employs state-of-the-art technology, with fully integrated risk management tools and trading platforms to gather and assess market and price intelligence, manage risk, and deliver operational efficiencies across the energy value chain.
At inception, AGT traded in five products; today, it handles more than 16, including jet fuel, naphtha, and LNG. “Today, we trade three times more LNG than the total production by ADNOC. We are preparing for the future. Biofuel, carbon, sulphur — all have been added to the trading floor,” Thalith said.
AGT is currently handling the equivalent of about 1.1 million to 1.2 million barrels of oil a day and aims to expand that to around 2 million barrels a day, according to Bloomberg’s report quoting the CEO.
Explaining the rationale for international expansion, Thalith said, “The best thing about trading is, you need to have a view over the whole globe, because the value comes out of optimisation. And if one region is out of your scope, you're not 100% optimising. So that’s why we have presence in Singapore, in Geneva, and soon to come to the US.”
When asked about coordination with other ADNOC companies and how they could benefit from AGT’s expertise, Thalith said: “Our entity has a view in the market. It will help the other ADNOC companies to look at their projects, expansions.”
He added that dependence on external consultants is no longer necessary: “We have people who deal with this day in and day out, so they will give you the most accurate information for your projects.”
Thalith highlighted the growing presence of UAE nationals on the trading floor. “When we started, we had zero UAE nationals in this business. I am proud to say that today one third of the workforce on the trading floor are UAE nationals.”
He said AGT had established a trading academy early on to train Emiratis in the business, which has led to steady growth in their numbers.
There has also been exponential growth in business activity. “Today, we are doing more transactions in a day than we used to do in a year before 2020. We are not dealing just with ADNOC barrels but also barrels from third parties,” Thalith said.
On the use of artificial intelligence, Thalith referred to remarks made by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Managing Director and Group CEO of ADNOC, during the opening of ADIPEC 2025. “He said that we are implementing AI from the well all the way to the trading,” Thalith noted.
“There are more than 200 uses of AI across ADNOC, and we are part of the ADNOC organisation. We are focusing on data crunching, quick decisions, and risk management. And this will help us be quick to the market and handle all the volatility that comes out of this uncertain market in situations,” Thalith concluded.