Business

Mohamed bin Zayed chairs ADNOC Board of Directors Meeting at Expo 2020 Dubai

DUBAI, 1st December, 2021 (WAM) — His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), today presided over the annual meeting of the ADNOC Board of Directors.

During the meeting, which was held in the UAE pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed conveyed the support and encouragement of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for ADNOC and commended the company’s proactive steps to embrace the energy transition, noting its clean energy partnership with Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC). Sheikh Mohamed lauded ADNOC’s strong performance and its landmark achievements in 2021 that have maximised value and growth opportunities for the UAE.

Other board members that attended the meeting were H.H. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council; H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs; H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office; H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Crown Prince Court; Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure; Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Managing Director and Group CEO of ADNOC; Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State; Dr. Ahmed Mubarak Ali Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council Office; Khaldoun Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Mubadala; Jassim Mohammed Buatabh Al Zaabi, Member of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance Council; and Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Member of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy.

During the meeting, H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed underlined ADNOC’s important role as a catalyst for the UAE’s growth and diversification and expressed confidence that the company is well placed to continue to empower the nation’s socioeconomic ambitions as it looks ahead to the next 50 years.

ADNOC is building on this success and today announced a significant increase in national reserves of 4 billion stock tank barrels (STB) of oil and 16 trillion standard cubic feet (TSCF) of natural gas. These additional reserves increase the UAE’s hydrocarbon reserves base to 111 billion STB of oil and 289 TSCF of natural gas, reinforcing the country’s position in global rankings as the holder of the sixth-largest oil reserves and the seventh-largest gas reserves.

Commenting on the achievements, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed congratulated ADNOC and said the UAE will continue to responsibly unlock its hydrocarbon resources to drive progress and contribute to global energy security.

As ADNOC unlocks the UAE’s lower carbon oil and gas resources, it is ensuring greater economic value is retained in the local economy through its successful In-Country Value (ICV) programme which is nurturing new business opportunities for the private sector and creating jobs opportunities for UAE Nationals.

Sheikh Mohamed and the board reviewed the ongoing achievements of ADNOC’s ICV programme. Since ADNOC launched the programme in January 2018, it has driven AED105 billion ($28.6 billion) back into the UAE economy and created over 3,000 jobs for UAE Nationals in the private sector, including over 1,000 jobs this year.

The Board of Directors approved ADNOC’s five year business plan and capital expenditure (CAPEX) of AED466 billion ($127 billion) for 2022-2026 to enable its plans to expand its upstream production capacity and downstream portfolio as well as its low carbon fuels business and clean energy ambitions. As part of this plan, ADNOC aims to drive over AED160 billion ($43.6 billion) back into the UAE economy across 2022-2026 through its ICV programme. This will further stimulate growth and diversification and support the objectives of the UAE Principles of the 50 outlined by the wise leadership to usher a new era of economic and social growth over the next 50 years.

The board also approved ADNOC’s New Energies Strategy aimed at further reducing its carbon footprint and enabling it to capitalise on opportunities in renewable energy, hydrogen and other lower carbon fuels. The board noted that ADNOC’s clean energy partnership with EWEC will see up to 100 percent of ADNOC’s grid power supplied by EWEC’s nuclear and solar clean energy sources, and concluded it is an important milestone in ADNOC’s journey to a lower-carbon future.

In Downstream and Industry, the board endorsed ADNOC’s plans to evaluate doubling its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity from 6 to 12 million tonnes per annum (MMTPA). The potential expansion of ADNOC’s LNG production capacity is underpinned by the growth in its natural gas position, with new developments planned to add 3 billion standard cubic feet per day (scfd) and more to come from associated gas as it expands its crude oil production capacity.

The board highlighted the progress of the TA’ZIZ Industrial ecosystem in Ruwais and the strong local and international investor interest received, particularly in the TA’ZIZ Industrial Chemicals Zone. The Chemicals Zone, ADNOC’s joint venture with Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), is a key pillar of ADNOC’s downstream and industrial expansion strategy and is helping to accelerate the development of Abu Dhabi’s petrochemicals and manufacturing industry. Anchor projects for the world-class chemicals zone are already in the design phase and international partners such as Reliance Industries, Fertiglobe, GS Energy and Mitsui have announced they will partner with TA’ZIZ.

Within the TA’ZIZ Industrial Chemicals Zone, ADNOC is advancing a world-scale low carbon ammonia facility as part of its ongoing efforts to reinforce Abu Dhabi’s leadership in the clean hydrogen economy and capitalise on growing global demand for low-carbon ammonia. The board noted the progress on this front, including ADNOC’s recent sales of low carbon ammonia demonstration cargos produced by Fertiglobe at its Fertil plant in Ruwais to customers in Asia.

In trading, the board recognised the significant strides made by ADNOC’s trading teams following the establishment of two new trading entities – ADNOC Trading (AT) and ADNOC Global Trading (AGT) – over a year ago. The board congratulated ADNOC on the establishment of its trading offices in Singapore, which are the latest step in the growth of its trading businesses.

The board discussed recent developments in oil and gas markets and noted that ADNOC continues to remain agile, resilient and able to quickly adapt to market conditions.

The success of the Murban Futures Contract on ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) was also highlighted with the new Murban Futures Contract recently trading over one billion barrels of Abu Dhabi’s flagship low-carbon Murban crude. The board noted that Murban was now more widely available to a broader set of market participants around the globe and is well positioned to act as an important price marker for crude oil.

On this occasion, Dr. Al Jaber said, "ADNOC is very grateful for the support of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the Supreme Council for Economic and Financial Affairs and the ADNOC Board of Directors, as their guidance has been instrumental in enabling our robust operational and financial performance and landmark achievements this year. Our progress is as a result of the wise directives of the UAE’s leadership and the hardwork and dedication of all my colleagues at ADNOC.

"We have laid a solid foundation to ensure ADNOC continues to drive greater and more sustainable value for the UAE during the energy transition. As we build on this foundation, we are capitalising on the many commercial opportunities in this era while strengthening our position as one of the lowest cost and lowest carbon oil and gas producers in the world.

"The Board of Directors’ approval of ADNOC’s Business Plan and New Energies Strategy marks an important phase in our ongoing journey to future-proof our business model. We are confidently moving forward to deliver upstream growth, accelerate the UAE’s industrial development through our downstream expansion, build our trading capabilities and advance our position in hydrogen and clean energy. At the same time, we are creating opportunities for the UAE’s private sector to benefit from ADNOC’s growth and enabling more skilled job opportunities for UAE National talent, in line with the Leadership’s wise directives."

The increase in oil and gas national reserves was driven by ADNOC’s continuous appraisal activities and enabled by best reservoir management practices across its onshore and offshore portfolio as well as leveraging advanced tailored technologies. In addition, maturing development plans towards achieving ADNOC’s 5 million barrels per day (mmbpd) production capacity target by 2030 contributed to the substantial reserves increase.

Around half of the newly added 4 billion STB oil national reserves are Murban-grade crude, Abu Dhabi’s highly sought-after lower-carbon crude grade which has been successfully trading on the ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) commodities exchange since March 2021.

The new Murban reserves offer the potential to reinforce the long-term liquidity of the Murban Futures Contract. Furthermore, the increase in oil and gas reserves underpins ADNOC’s objectives of boosting its crude oil production capacity and driving gas self-sufficiency for the UAE. These objectives will be enabled by the growth of ADNOC’s drilling activities, through ADNOC Drilling, as they will require thousands of new wells by 2030.

The latest increase in national reserves follows ADNOC’s announcement last year of the discovery of recoverable unconventional oil resources estimated at 22 billion STB and an increase in conventional oil national reserves of 2 billion STB. Also, in 2019, ADNOC announced national reserves increases of 7 billion STB of oil and 58 TSCF of conventional gas and the discovery of unconventional recoverable gas resources totaling 160 TSCF.

This year ADNOC has delivered several other landmark achievements. These include the largest initial public offering (IPO) in the history of Abu Dhabi’s stock exchange, ADNOC Drilling, which was more than thirty times oversubscribed; the IPO of the world’s biggest shareholder-owned exporter of fertiliser, Fertiglobe, which was more than twenty times over-subscribed; raising $1.64 billion (AED6 billion) through the combined offering of ADNOC Distribution shares and issuance of exchangeable bonds; the successful conclusion of Abu Dhabi’s second exploration block bid round and the signing of a $6.2 billion (AED22 billion) strategic partnership with Borealis to build Borouge 4 in Ruwais.

Business

Almarai signs multiple agreements to localize jobs through training and recruitment programs

Almarai signed a cooperation memorandum with the Food Industries Polytechnic, the
Transport General Authority, and the Saudi Logistics Academy to localize jobs in the
food and beverages sector through training and rehabilitation programs ending in
employment. This came within the first international conference on the labor market,
organized by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development on 13 – 14
December 2023 at the King Abdulaziz Convention Center in Riyadh.

‘These agreements are part of Almarai’s corporate program for the social responsibility
to achieve localization in the food industry sector, which is one of the top priorities of the
comprehensive strategic plans in Almarai, especially since the company is one of the
largest working environments in the kingdom, with more than 9,000 Saudi employees,
including more than 900 Saudi female employees.”Fahad Aldrees, Chief Human
Resources Officer of Almarai, said.

He added that the agreements signed to train and qualify young people are part of the
integrated initiatives and training and rehabilitation programs for national human
resources in Almarai. He pointed out that the company provided about half a million
employee training hours during 2022, raising its retention rate to 90% during 2022.

It is worth mentioning that Almarai is the world’s largest vertically integrated dairy
company, and the largest food and beverage producer and distributor in the Middle
East. Almarai was ranked among LinkedIn’s top 15 Saudi companies for professional
career development for 2022.

Business

SEBA Bank rebrands to AMINA Bank and continues to write its success story

a fully licensed Swiss crypto bank, announced today its new brand identity: AMINA Bank AG. The group operates
globally from its regulated hubs in Zug, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, offering its clients traditional and crypto banking services.
SEBA Bank made history in 2019 by becoming one of the first FINMA-regulated institutions to provide crypto banking services. This rebrand marks a new chapter for the company, which has proudly been in operation for more than four years. AMINA Bank is inspired by the same trailblazing ambition to lead the way for its clients and to write its own future as a Swiss-
regulated crypto bank offering services to its traditional and crypto savvy clients around the globe. The name ‘AMINA’ stems from the term ‘transAMINAtion’, meaning transference of one compound to another. AMINA is a brand driven by perpetual change, bringing together the various ‘compounds’ of traditional, digital, and crypto banking to unlock new potential and
growth for our clients. This vision of change represents the transformation of our clients’ financial future. Franz Bergmueller, CEO of AMINA, said: “We are delighted to introduce the world to our new brand identity. While we say goodbye to the SEBA name, we remain forever proud of the achievements made by the group under the former brand. “Our brand signifies a new era in the company’s growth and strategy; we are a key player in crypto banking and are here to define the future of finance. With our client-focused approach, our years of traversing traditional and crypto finance, we offer a platform for investors to build
wealth safely and under the highest regulatory standards.” “We are grateful to be encouraged by our supportive and committed investors who have been very helpful, supporting the growth of the company. We thank our employees in all the regions
for their dedication and client focus. As we look forward to 2024, our ambition is to accelerate the growth of our strategic hubs in Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi, and to continue our global expansion, building on all the successes we have laid down over the past years.” Current clients of AMINA Bank (formerly SEBA Bank) will be unaffected by the rebrand other than encountering the new name; all operations will be business as usual across the board. The branch office based in Abu Dhabi and the subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Singapore will subsequently apply for a name change to align with the head office in Zug.

Business

Uptime Appoints Mustapha Louni Chief Business Officer

Uptime Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Mustapha Louni to the position of Chief Business Officer, a role specifically created to drive strategic leadership and client success. In this new role, Mr. Louni will assume responsibility for the global Uptime sales and marketing organizations and drive overall business value for all Uptime clients. He will retain his existing responsibilities overseeing operations in the Middle East, India, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. In this elevated capacity, Mr. Louni is poised to play a pivotal role in driving Uptime’s next phase of global expansion through strategic initiatives to enhance market awareness of the dramatically expanding global service lines and delivery capabilities of Uptime that uniquely support the global data center industry in its pursuit of ever higher performance through elevated availability, resiliency, sustainability, and cyber-security of digital infrastructure. Louni’s appointment renews and expands Uptime

Institute 39;s 30-year commitment to advancing excellence in the data center sector on a global scale. “Today we are experiencing the next phase of the one-time, planetary transformation from analog to digital. This unprecedented, once-in-a-generation growth in data center demand is primarily driven by continuing cloud adoption, the new promise of AI, and the demonstrable fact
that hybrid digital infrastructure is here to stay for the foreseeable future,” said Martin McCarthy, CEO, Uptime Institute. “These complex and nuanced market demands require a visionary talent like Mustapha Louni. He is someone who cannot only deftly manage specific aspects of the business but also remain ahead of accelerating changes and trends. He continues to earn client
trust and respect by timely delivery on demanding commitments while he also inspires and energizes colleagues and clients alike. I am delighted to announce Mr. Louni’s new position and know that he will continue to expand the impact that he has already brought to Uptime since his arrival.” In 2014, Mr. Louni joined the Uptime organization in the United Arab Emirates, leveraging his extensive experience from roles at Panduit and Schneider Electric in Paris and Dubai. As the company’s first commercial resource in the Middle East and Africa region, Mr. Louni played a pivotal role in expanding Uptime’s presence. Within a year, he successfully established what became and remains Uptime’s fastest growing regional office. Under his leadership, Uptime has
extended his impressive trajectory of growth in MEA to the Asia-Pacific regions, augmenting the Uptime workforce with dedicated team members spanning more than a dozen countries across these regions. A new Uptime office has been inaugurated in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) this year, further fortifying the company’s ability to meet its commitment to sustained
growth and excellence and serve clients in critical, accelerating markets for digital infrastructure.

Uptime Institute began development of its proprietary and now globally recognized Tier Standards and its Tier Certifications 30 years ago to ensure that the mission critical computing needs of all organizations could be met with confidence and understood by executive management. Since that time, Uptime Tier Certification as well as other Uptime offerings including assessments and awards in digital infrastructure for ensuring business performance in areas of management and operations, risk and resilience, sustainability, and more recently cyber- security have gained global adoption. Uptime’s expanding success is based on delivering a
unique business service that is based upon unparalleled engineering excellence and technical mastery, while remaining vendor independent and technology agnostic.