"ADNOC" Signs a 15-year sale and purchase agreement with "Inpex" Japan to supply liquefied natural gas from "Ruwais project"

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TOKYO, 7 JULY / WAM / ADNOC today announced the signing of a 15-year sale and purchase agreement with INPEX Corporation, the largest Japanese company in the field of exploration, development and production, to supply one million metric tons annually of liquefied natural gas from the Ruwais project.

The agreement was announced during the visit of His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Managing Director and CEO of ADNOC and its group of companies, and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of XRG, to Japan, where he heads a delegation from ADNOC to hold a number of meetings with senior government officials and leaders of the Japanese business sector, with the aim of strengthening the long-term partnership in the energy field between the UAE and Japan, and building on six decades of cooperation based on trust.

Nasser Al Muhairi, Acting CEO of the Refining, Manufacturing, Marketing and Trade Department at ADNOC and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ruwais LNG, said that the sale and purchase agreement with Inpex is the first long-term agreement for LNG after the launch of the integrated global marketing and trading platform for LNG that was recently established by ADNOC and XRG, which confirms the efforts made to provide more LNG shipments, expand market access, and enhance trade flexibility. For customers.

He explained that the agreement is based on ADNOC’s decades-long partnership with Japan in the field of energy, and contributes to accelerating the marketing of the Ruwais LNG project’s production, and confirms the market’s confidence in the project.

He added that with ADNOC and XRG targeting to provide 47 million tons annually of marketable liquefied natural gas by 2035, the Ruwais LNG project will be a major source of reliable, flexible, low-emission supplies to customers in Asia and around the world.

The agreement strengthens the long-standing and established relationship between Inpex and the ADNOC Group, and is also in line with the Inpex 2035 vision announced in February 2025, which aims to strengthen its business portfolio in the field of liquefied natural gas and provide flexible supplies of this vital resource, complementing the quantities produced from its own projects. Inpex is also a long-term strategic partner of ADNOC in the exploration, development and production sector, as it owns shares in A number of Abu Dhabi’s land and sea concessions.

The LNG will be mainly supplied from the Ruwais project, which is being developed in the Ruwais Industrial City in Abu Dhabi and is scheduled to begin commercial operations in 2028.

The sale and purchase agreement represents a new phase in ADNOC’s global expansion strategy in the liquefied natural gas sector, and consolidates the company’s position as a leading global supplier of low-carbon liquefied natural gas.

So far, 90% of the Ruwais LNG project’s production capacity of 9.6 million tons per year has been committed to selling to international buyers in Asia and Europe under long-term agreements.

The Ruwais project will be the first LNG export facility in the Middle East and North Africa region to operate on clean electricity, making it among the least carbon-intensive LNG facilities in the world.

The facility will employ artificial intelligence and advanced technology to enhance safety standards, raise efficiency, reduce emissions, and achieve operational excellence.

It is noteworthy that ADNOC Gas had announced in November 2024 that it expected to acquire ADNOC’s 60% stake in the Ruwais LNG project at a cost price estimated at approximately $5 billion, in 2028.

Upon completion of the project, which includes two natural gas liquefaction lines with a production capacity of 4.8 million metric tons per year each, and a total production capacity of 9.6 million tons per year, it will contribute to increasing the current operational production capacity of ADNOC Gas by more than doubling to about 15 million metric tons per year of liquefied natural gas.