Malaysia's Petronas and Abu Dhabi's Adnoc will explore collaboration opportunities in Abu Dhabi's oil and gas sector, in the first such agreement between the two state-owned oil firms.
"Under the terms of the agreement, Adnoc and Petronas will jointly explore opportunities for collaboration in the exploration, development, and production of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources in the emirate of Abu Dhabi," Adnoc said.
Adnoc operates more than 900,000 b/d of refining capacity in Abu Dhabi and runs the world's fourth-largest refinery complex, Ruwais East and West.
The firms will also look at trading opportunities in the downstream sector, including the supply of crude and feedstock and offtake of refined products.
"Among the opportunities in Abu Dhabi is Ta'ziz, which is driving the development of industrial projects in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi and catalysing the UAE's economic diversification," Adnoc said. Another potential area is fuel bunkering and supporting LNG bunkering vessels at ports in the UAE and the region, according to Petronas.
The scope of the agreement extends to potential co-operation in low-carbon initiatives including carbon capture, utilisation and storage, as well as hydrogen technology. This ties in with Petronas and Adnoc's planned shift to renewable energy sources.
Petronas, which is targeting to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, has separately signed an initial agreement with Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy firm Masdar to pursue renewable energy and green hydrogen projects in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Green hydrogen is produced using electricity from renewables, typically through electrolysis of water that creates no greenhouse gas emissions.
The firms will explore joint participation in large-scale solar and wind power opportunities for utilities, commercial and industrial customers, focusing primarily on Asia, Petronas said. Its renewable energy arm Petronas New Energy has more than 1GW of solar capacity in operation and development in India and southeast Asia.
"The partnership will also explore opportunities for joint production of green hydrogen. Petronas is gearing towards commercialising low-carbon hydrogen produced from its existing facilities and is pursuing commercial production of green hydrogen in the near future," it said.
Petronas is a major LNG exporter and produces around 1.8mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d). It operates about 400,000 b/d of refining capacity.

