ADNOC has taken a final investment decision worth 6.2 billion dollars, or 22.6 billion dirhams, to develop the Umm Shaif Gas Cap in Abu Dhabi, marking one of the largest gas investments the company has approved this year. The project moves forward alongside international partners TotalEnergies, Eni and China National Petroleum Corporation, each of which has held a minority stake in the wider Umm Shaif and Nasr offshore concession since 2018, while ADNOC retains the majority interest. Umm Shaif itself sits about 150 kilometres northwest of Abu Dhabi city and ranks among the emirate’s oldest producing offshore fields, having exported its first crude back in 1962. The gas cap development is expected to unlock more than 600 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas and associated gas liquids, a volume equal to almost 10 percent of the UAE’s current daily gas consumption. Commercial production is targeted to begin by 2030. As part of the FID, ADNOC awarded three engineering, procurement and construction packages worth a combined 5.1 billion dollars to consortiums of UAE based and international contractors for the offshore infrastructure, following a tender process that Australian engineering firm Worley supported through earlier front end engineering and design work. A further 365 million dollars will fund a 14 well drilling campaign that ADNOC Drilling will carry out over the next 18 months using three existing rigs rather than mobilising new equipment. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ADNOC’s group chief executive, called the approval another milestone in the company’s strategy to maximise value from the UAE’s gas resources.

Umm Shaif Gas Cap Advances Abu Dhabi’s LNG Growth Strategy

The Umm Shaif Gas Cap is one piece of a much larger push by ADNOC to turn the UAE into a bigger LNG supplier while keeping enough gas at home to power industry and, increasingly, artificial intelligence infrastructure. It follows the concession award for the Bab Gas Cap, expected to unlock a further 1.5 billion standard cubic feet per day, and builds on ADNOC’s new global LNG marketing platform in Abu Dhabi Global Market, which targets 47 million tonnes per annum of marketable LNG capacity by 2035. The clearest example of that ambition sits at Al Ruwais Industrial City, where ADNOC relocated what was originally planned as a low carbon LNG terminal in Fujairah. That Ruwais LNG project reached final investment decision in 2024, with a Technip Energies led joint venture alongside JGC Corporation and NMDC Energy securing a 5.5 billion dollar EPC contract for two liquefaction trains rated at 9.6 million tonnes per annum combined. Once online in 2028, Ruwais LNG will more than double ADNOC’s LNG output to 15 million tonnes per annum and stands to become the first LNG export facility in the Middle East and North Africa region to run entirely on clean power. Together, the Umm Shaif expansion and the Ruwais buildout illustrate how Gulf producers are pairing upstream gas development with downstream export capacity rather than treating the two as separate bets.

Umm Shaif Gas Cap Timeline and What Comes Next

With the FID signed and EPC packages awarded, ADNOC’s near term focus shifts to executing offshore construction alongside the 14 well drilling programme, which ADNOC Drilling is set to complete within 18 months. Full commercial production from the gas cap is not expected until 2030, giving contractors roughly four years to deliver the offshore infrastructure and bring the wells online. ADNOC has not yet named the specific consortiums behind the three EPC packages beyond describing them as UAE based and international contractors, so full attribution of construction responsibilities remains to be confirmed. The bigger open question is how quickly the gas reaches the grid relative to demand growth from industrial users and AI powered data centres, which ADNOC has cited as a driver of the investment. If the project stays on schedule, it will add meaningfully to Abu Dhabi’s gas supply just as Ruwais LNG and other export projects come online, reinforcing the UAE’s position as a long term gas supplier to Asia and beyond.

Project Fact Sheet

• Project Name: Umm Shaif Gas Cap
• Location: Umm Shaif offshore field, approximately 150 kilometres northwest of Abu Dhabi, UAE
• Project Value: 6.2 billion dollars (22.6 billion dirhams) final investment decision, per ADNOC
• Client/Owner: ADNOC, with international partners TotalEnergies, Eni and China National Petroleum Corporation
• Main Contractor: Not yet disclosed by name; EPC packages awarded to unnamed UAE based and international consortiums
• Key Components: Three offshore EPC packages worth 5.1 billion dollars combined, plus a 14 well drilling and integrated drilling services programme worth 365 million dollars
• Procurement Model: Conventional EPC based execution following earlier FEED work by Worley
• Expected Completion: Commercial production targeted by 2030
• Environmental/Social Features: Positioned by ADNOC as supporting lower carbon energy supply alongside its broader LNG growth strategy
• Strategic Impact: Expected to unlock more than 600 million standard cubic feet per day of gas and liquids, equal to almost 10 percent of the UAE’s current daily gas consumption

Project Team

• Client/Owner: ADNOC
• International Partners: TotalEnergies, Eni, China National Petroleum Corporation
• FEED Contractor: Worley
• Drilling Contractor: ADNOC Drilling
• Main EPC Contractors: Not yet disclosed

Frequently Asked Questions

When will the Umm Shaif Gas Cap start production? ADNOC expects commercial production from the Umm Shaif Gas Cap to begin by 2030.

How much does the Umm Shaif Gas Cap project cost? ADNOC approved a final investment decision of 6.2 billion dollars, or 22.6 billion dirhams, for the project.

Who is developing the Umm Shaif Gas Cap? ADNOC is developing the project alongside international partners TotalEnergies, Eni and China National Petroleum Corporation.

How much gas will the Umm Shaif Gas Cap produce? The project is expected to unlock more than 600 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas and associated gas liquids.

Who is building the Umm Shaif Gas Cap? ADNOC has awarded three EPC packages worth 5.1 billion dollars to UAE based and international contractor consortiums, though the specific firms have not been publicly named.