[Fortune Global 500] Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in the UAE: From Major LNG Buyer to Upstream Equity Holder

Click the blue text to follow us—navigate overseas without losing your way. Preface (approx. 1,400 characters) Previously, we reviewed infrastructure projects undertaken by French energy major ENGIE across North Africa and the Gulf region. Starting with this article, we shift our focus to another Fortune Global 500 enterprise expanding in the Middle East: Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC). Unlike ENGIE—which emphasizes infrastructure operation—IOC’s expansion strategy is more direct: leveraging multi-billion-dollar long-term LNG procurement agreements as a springboard to acquire upstream exploration rights. This article reconstructs IOC’s transformation in the UAE—from a pure buyer to an upstream asset shareholder—by analyzing data including LNG long-term contracts exceeding 2 million tonnes annually and progress on the Onshore Block 1 exploration project. I. LNG Procurement: Securing Gas Supply First Long-term LNG supply agreements form the cornerstone of IOC’s operations in the UAE. Das Island LNG Project: In February 2025, ADNOC Gas—the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s gas subsidiary—and IOC signed a 14-year agreement, under which 1.2 million tonnes of LNG per year will be supplied starting in 2026. The LNG will be produced at the Das Island liquefaction facility, which has an annual capacity of 6 million tonnes. The total contract value is estimated at USD 7–9 billion. Location of the Das Island LNG Project (satellite image date: March 7, 2026) Ruwais LNG Project: In August 2025, ADNOC and IOC signed a 15-year agreement for annual supply of 1 million tonnes of LNG from the Ruwais project. Scheduled to commence operations in 2028, Ruwais will be the Middle East’s first LNG facility fully powered by clean energy. Its construction includes two production lines, each with an annual capacity of 4.8 million tonnes—totaling 9.6 million tonnes per year. Over 8 million tonnes of annual capacity have already been secured via long-term contracts. Location of Ruwais LNG Project L1/L2 facilities (satellite image date: March 7, 2026) Strategic Significance: By 2029, IOC’s total annual LNG purchases from ADNOC will reach 2.2 million tonnes (1.2 million from Das Island + 1 million from Ruwais), making it ADNOC’s largest LNG customer. These two agreements are timed to provide seamless continuity, ensuring India a stable and predictable long-term gas supply. II. Onshore Block 1: From Buying Gas to Exploring Oil As India’s pursuit of overseas energy asset equity intensifies, IOC has rapidly entered the UAE’s upstream exploration sector—leveraging the deep governmental and commercial relationships built through its LNG procurement activities. Flagship Project: Abu Dhabi Onshore Block 1 Located in Abu Dhabi’s onshore region, this block is held 100% by Urja Bharat Pte Limited (UBPL), a special-purpose vehicle jointly established by IOC and Bharat PetroResources Limited (BPCL’s subsidiary) on a 50:50 equity basis. UBPL acquired the concession rights for this block through Abu Dhabi’s 2019 licensing round, early in 2019.

Here It Is! Today’s Energy News (20261105)

◆ Across its subsidiaries, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has actively promoted the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China—through outreach campaigns, thematic study sessions, and other methods—ensuring that the guiding principles reach well sites, workshops, and work teams. These efforts aim to align Party members and officials with CNPC’s core mission of securing energy supplies, treating national energy security as a major political responsibility. Staff at CNPC’s Oil & Gas and New Energy Subsidiary Group, as well as its Refining, Marketing & New Materials Subsidiary Group, emphasized strengthening grassroots Party building through full and rigorous Party self-governance, fulfilling responsibilities with concrete action to secure China’s energy supply, and achieving new breakthroughs in transformation and upgrading through enhanced Party governance. ◆ As of October 31, CNPC’s Natural Gas Sales Company achieved over 10 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales this year—reaching the milestone 80 days earlier than last year, with a year-on-year growth of 37.29%. Of this volume, LNG supplied to CNPC’s refined product marketing enterprises increased by 114.3% year-on-year. ◆ On November 2, NGIB (Natural Gas Industry B), an English-language journal published by Southwest Oil & Gas Field Company, was officially indexed in the Ei Compendex database—the first CNPC-published English academic journal to achieve this distinction. Ei Compendex is an internationally recognized premier engineering literature indexing system and a globally authoritative benchmark for evaluating the international academic standing of engineering journals. ◆ As of November 3, Guangdong Petrochemical’s ethylene plant—commissioned in 2023—has cumulatively produced 5.03 million tonnes of ethylene. The unit has exceeded 1.4 million tonnes annually for two consecutive years (2024 and 2025), earning recognition twice as a ‘Benchmark Enterprise’ in ethylene energy efficiency by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation—setting a new domestic record for domestically manufactured ethylene plants. ◆ As of October 31, CNPC’s Chongqing Sales Company recorded cumulative EV charging and battery-swapping electricity consumption of 207 million kWh this year—surpassing the 200-million-kWh threshold for the first time, representing a 121% year-on-year increase. ◆ On November 2, news emerged that a tubing-conveyed metal plugging tool independently developed by CNPC’s Engineering Technology Research Institute successfully completed China’s first field trial at Well Dong-11-024 in Jilin Oilfield. The operation achieved successful metal plugging inside the wellbore without pulling out the original production tubing—marking China’s first-ever breakthrough in tubing-conveyed metal plugging technology. Energy Landscape ◆ On November 4, a senior official from China’s National Development and Reform Commission stated that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), China will pursue infrastructure development at a pace that is ‘appropriately forward-looking—but not excessively so’, accelerating the construction of a modern infrastructure system characterized by advanced applicability, systemic completeness, intensive efficiency, safety, and greenness. This includes promoting digital and intelligent upgrades of traditional infrastructure and expediting energy structure adjustment and green, low-carbon transformation. (CCTV News) ◆ On November 3, BASF signed an investment cooperation agreement with Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, selecting the Nanjing Jiangbei New Materials Science Park as the site for a new electronic materials production base. The new facility is scheduled to begin operations before the end of 2028. (‘Chemical Online’ WeChat Official Account)

ADNOC Signs 10-Year LNG Supply Agreement with India's Gujarat Energy

16 hours ago

ADNOC signed a 10-year LNG supply agreement with India's Gujarat Energy, expanding its presence in Asian markets. This deal adds to a previous $3 billion contract with Hindustan Petroleum, raising total agreements with India to over $20 billion.

reuters

ADNOC Signs 10-Year LNG Supply Agreement with India's Gujarat Energy

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