Analysis: UAE aims to shake up world order as oil trading centre

Adnoc has been instrumental in turning the UAE into it

The UAE has been an important commercial and logistics hub for years, linking Asia to Africa and Europe and trading diamonds and gold. However, despite being a major producer — the fifth-largest among OPEC members — oil was not an area of initial focus.

Now the ambitions of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) along with a business-friendly environment, have been the main catalysts for change.

In 2020 Adnoc established Adnoc Trading (AT) and Adnoc Global Trading (AGT). The former is focused on crude and LNG and is active on ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, an independent exchange for derivatives of the local Murban contract. AGT specialises in refined products.

These two companies have expanded from five employees to more than 400 today. An industry expert said that the development of these two businesses has been one of the most prominent trading buildouts in the industry over the past couple of years and has paved the way for the UAE to emerge as a global commodity trading centre.

Today, regional companies including Saudi Arabia’s Aramco Trading, Oman’s OQ, Kuwait’s KPC, Bahrain’s Bapco and France’s TotalEnergies have established offices in the UAE. International houses like Ennero Group, Gunvor, Montfort and Vitol are also present.

«The UAE managed the pandemic very well, which attracted a lot of people to at first work remotely. Then companies started to open their offices. The talent competition became tight,» said an energy trading recruitment expert.