Adnoc’s international investment company XRG has built a global energy strategy connecting liquefied natural gas, chemicals and energy infrastructure into a single value chain, with a board-endorsed five-year plan targeting between $10 billion and $30 billion in new investments.
Launched by Adnoc in November 2024 following a board meeting chaired by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, XRG describes its enterprise value at more than $150 billion, nearly double the figure at launch. Reuters reported that Adnoc is also considering listing XRG on an exchange outside the UAE, a move that could create one of the largest listed energy companies globally.
One value chain, not separate bets
Mohamed Al Aryani, President of International Gas at XRG, says the portfolio is designed around a single thread rather than isolated holdings.
‘People often look at our portfolio and see a gas asset in one market, a chemicals business in another, and energy infrastructure somewhere else. We look at it differently,’ Al Aryani said. ‘What connects them is a very simple question: How will the world produce, move and use energy and materials over the next 20 or 30 years and beyond?’
Ammonia illustrates how the chain works. Fertiglobe, majority owned through XRG and the world’s largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia, supplies agricultural markets. Covestro, the German advanced-materials company whose acquisition by XRG closed in December 2025, uses ammonia as a raw material for MDI and TDI production, the building blocks of polyurethane foam used in insulation, furniture and vehicles.
In February 2026, Covestro, Fertiglobe and Abu Dhabi chemicals company Ta’ziz signed a memorandum of understanding covering collaboration across the ammonia and nitric acid value chains, including options for low-carbon and green ammonia. A separate MoU signed during a visit by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Germany brought Covestro, Fertiglobe and MB Energy together to explore an ammonia supply route through Hamburg into Germany and wider Europe.
Covestro has also begun a feasibility study for a possible MDI production facility in the UAE, examining whether proximity to Fertiglobe and Ta’ziz could underpin the economics of such a plant. Covestro reported sales of EUR 12.9 billion in fiscal year 2025 and operated 46 production sites worldwide at the end of that year.
XRG global energy strategy reaches into US LNG and AI infrastructure
Gas remains the largest component of XRG’s plan. The company’s board has endorsed a target of 20 to 25 million tonnes per annum of gas and LNG capacity by 2035, aiming to rank among the world’s top LNG players, according to the XRG five-year plan.
In the United States, XRG holds interests across all five trains under construction at the Rio Grande LNG project in Texas. It acquired an initial 11.7% stake in Phase 1 (Trains 1 to 3) through Global Infrastructure Partners, then added a 7.6% equity interest in Trains 4 and 5 from an acquisition vehicle of Global Infrastructure Partners, part of BlackRock. MarineLink reported that first gas into the facility is expected in the second half of 2026.
Beyond the US, The National reported that XRG has investments in Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin, Block-1 Turkmenistan, a joint venture with BP in Egypt and the Absheron field in Azerbaijan. XRG’s Chief Investment Officer Nameer Siddiqui said 29 potential deals are under evaluation across controlled transactions, drilling joint ventures and minority stakes.
Artificial intelligence connects to the gas and materials portfolio through what sits behind data centres. ‘For most people, AI is a technology story. For us, it’s also an energy story,’ Al Aryani said. ‘Every new data centre requires electricity. It requires infrastructure. It requires cooling systems. It requires advanced materials. When you scale that globally, the impact becomes very significant.’
The International Energy Agency projected that data centres consumed about 485 terawatt-hours of electricity globally in 2025 and estimated that figure could roughly double to 950 TWh by 2030, when data centres would account for around three per cent of global electricity demand. The IEA noted significant uncertainty in that forecast, citing potential constraints from grid connections, transformer shortages and chip supply.
XRG’s broader thesis is that expanding digital infrastructure will require more electricity generation, more physical construction and more of the advanced materials Covestro produces, creating demand across all three platforms simultaneously.
The next concrete test arrives when Rio Grande LNG moves from construction into production, currently scheduled to begin in the first half of 2027, and when Covestro’s UAE feasibility study returns a verdict on whether a new industrial facility takes root in Abu Dhabi.
