Adnoc Drilling has signed a five-year preliminary agreement with Abu Dhabi’s clean energy company Masdar to explore partnerships and investments in geothermal energy.
The companies will assess potential co-operation in areas such as development, investment, operations and projects to promote the energy transition in the UAE and other markets, Adnoc Drilling said on Tuesday.
Adnoc Drilling, the largest national drilling company in the Middle East by rig fleet size, will engage as a technical expert and adviser to support Masdar’s geothermal energy projects around the world.
The companies will “jointly evaluate” the potential for Adnoc Drilling to provide geothermal drilling services.
“Geothermal energy has enormous global potential and energy developers are challenged to ensure smart and innovative ways to deliver cost-effective wells,” said Abdulrahman Al Seiari, chief executive of Adnoc Drilling.
“Our leading integrated drilling services offering can bring advanced, efficient start-to-finish drilling and completion technologies to [give] Masdar the potential to generate clean geothermal energy to cool thousands of homes and office buildings.”
Geothermal energy harnesses the heat generated within the Earth’s core to provide a constant energy source, unlike solar or wind, which are intermittent in nature.
Geothermal energy plants also have high-capacity factors, meaning they can run at maximum power for longer periods.
Last month, Masdar invested in Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), a unit of Indonesia's state utility Pertamina.
The investment marked Masdar’s entry into the South-East Asian country’s geothermal energy sector, the second largest after the US.
Masdar's chief executive Mohamed Al Ramahi said the agreement with Adnoc Drilling reinforced his company's commitment to unlocking clean energy opportunities across a wide technology range.
“With Masdar recently adding geothermal energy to our growing clean energy portfolio, we are excited about the important role that geothermal can play in helping to drive forward the global energy transition,” he said.
The generation of electricity using geothermal energy has increased gradually by about 3.5 per cent every year, resulting in a total installed capacity of about 15.96 gigawatts in 2021, according to the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency.
However, geothermal energy still only makes up 0.5 per cent of the total installed capacity for renewable energy sources used in generating electricity, heating and cooling globally, the agency said in a report last month.
Masdar is currently active in more than 40 countries and has invested or committed to invest in projects worth more than $30 billion.
The company, which continues to boost its clean energy portfolio, has an ambitious target to grow its capacity to at least 100 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity globally by 2030.
The largest share of this capacity will come from wind and solar technology.
Beyond the initial goals, Masdar also seeks to develop more than 200 gigawatts of renewable energy.
Adnoc Drilling has provided integrated drilling services to sister companies Adnoc Onshore and Adnoc Offshore since 2019.
Last year, the company said it was considering expanding within the GCC as drilling activity increased after a surge in crude oil prices.
Rig activity in the GCC is a “huge” area in which Adnoc Drilling can “easily perform”, Mr Al Seiari told The National in November.
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
