Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. have signed a framework agreement to jointly explore global growth opportunities in refining and petrochemicals.

The partnership will support ADNOC’s ambitions to invest in its downstream capabilities as well as build on Mubadala’s diverse portfolio that includes major chemical companies such as Borealis, Cepsa and Nova Chemicals.

“Mubadala has an extensive and successful refining and petrochemical portfolio, which already has a number of strong partnerships with ADNOC. With the same shareholder, it was a very natural conclusion to reach that we should extend our collaboration into the global arena by pooling our technology, market knowledge, access to feedstock and operating experience,” said Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Mubadala’s CEO of Petroleum and Petrochemicals.

The two companies will investigate the potential for processing crude oil and other hydrocarbons supplied by ADNOC, as well as using technology owned by Mubadala with product offtake by other companies in the ADNOC group. ADNOC said this “end-to-end” investment model allows for the United Arab Emirates to not only assure long-term security of its hydrocarbon resources but also allows for capturing margin along the value chain.

Borealis is 67% owned by Mubadala, and the Austrian polyolefins group also owns a 40% share in Borouge, a joint venture with ADNOC.  Cepsa is wholly owned by Mubadala and in May this year, the Spanish group signed a project development deal for a 150,000 t/y linear alkyl benzene (LAB) plant at ADNOC’s complex in Ruwais.

Earlier this month, Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council approved ADNOC’s oil and gas expansion plans, laying the foundation for the group’s downstream petrochemical strategy. ADNOC said its $45 billion investment program will see the Ruwais industrial complex upgraded to significantly increase its flexibility and integrated capabilities to produce greater volumes of higher-value refined and petrochemical products as well as significant international expansion.