State-run GAIL India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to explore collaboration opportunities in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply and decarbonisation, including short- and long-term sales agreements.

The agreement was inked on Monday in Abu Dhabi by GAIL India CMD Sandeep Kumar Gupta and ADNOC LNG CEO Fatema Al Nuaimi in the presence of Indian Oil Minister HS Puri and UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

The agreement includes potential optimisation of LNG trading activities, review of joint equity investments in renewables, and monitoring of greenhouse gases for LNG cargoes, to support low-carbon LNG supplies, ADNOC said in a statement.

“India and the UAE enjoy strong bonds of friendship since historical times and this relationship is being further cemented through such partnerships. This MoU opens up opportunities for both GAIL and ADNOC in the energy sector, which, in turn, helps to boost the trade and commerce relations between the two nations,” Puri noted.

Low-carbon energy

“India is a strategic partner of the UAE and we have a strong and longstanding bilateral relationship. Through this important new agreement, ADNOC and GAIL will seek opportunities to broaden our commercial partnership, with a particular focus on lower carbon energy supplies, in this case LNG, and joint opportunities for collaboration in new projects, decarbonisation efforts and renewable energy,” Al Jaber, who is also UAE’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, and ADNOC’s MD and Group CEO, said.

ADNOC was the first LNG producer in West Asia, with over 40 years’ experience in the market. It is currently in the midst of a major expansion of its natural gas business, to meet both domestic and international demand.

India’s largest gas utility, GAIL has operations across exploration and production, processing, transmission, distribution, marketing, petrochemicals, LNG trading and shipping, city gas distribution and related services, both domestically and internationally.

Founded in 1971, ADNOC has a production capacity of more than 4 million barrels oil per day and around 11.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. It has a network of integrated businesses for exploration, production, storage, refining, and trading, as well as development of petrochemical products.

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