Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) plans to invest "tens of billions of dollars" in the US to build a vertically integrated natural gas business, in a wartime push to diversify away from Iranian-affected Gulf supply. XRG — Adnoc's overseas investment arm, launched a year ago — is assessing 29 potential deals across the gas value chain, from upstream production to pipelines, processing, liquefaction and re-gasification, according to its new chief investment officer Nameer Siddiqui.
XRG already owns a stake in the Rio Grande LNG plant in Texas. Banks are pulling back from new US LNG bets on fears of global oversupply, leaving cash-rich Middle Eastern investors with an opening — although XRG has missed the wave of construction triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump's return. The track record is mixed: XRG withdrew a $19bn bid for Australia's Santos in September, but inherited from parent Adnoc the €14.7bn takeover of Germany's Covestro and the merger with Austria's OMV that created Borouge International. Reports suggest XRG is now eyeing Australia's North West Shelf project, although Siddiqui declined to comment.
Strategically, XRG is narrowing its focus. Michele Fiorentino, head of its energy solutions arm, told the FT that hydrogen and carbon capture (CCUS) bets are off the table because demand is insufficient and they "did not make money"; the group's stake in ExxonMobil's low-carbon hydrogen project in Texas is on indefinite hold. The new mandate: only assets that produce, transport or use natural gas, including LNG bound for global buyers and gas to power US data centres. Source: Financial Times, 28 April 2026, Jamie Smyth, Verity Ratcliffe and Olaf Storbeck.