Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Austrian oil and gas group OMV have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore potential opportunities to work together in support of ADNOC’S growth strategy.

The MoU provides for cooperation in a number of areas. These include exchanging knowledge and experience in refining operations and refinery-petrochemical integration and optimization, downstream technical and maintenance support, and evaluating opportunities for downstream projects.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ADNOC’s CEO and United Arab Emirates Minister of State, said the agreement gives it access to OMV’s in-depth knowledge and experience of refinery operations and petrochemicals. “Such partnerships will continue to be an important enabler and we see exciting opportunities ahead. We look forward to working with companies such as OMV to realize our ambitious goals,” he stated.

OMV operates three refineries: Schwechat, Austria; Burghausen, Germany, both with integrated petrochemical complexes; and Petrobrazi in Romania. The Viennese group is also part owner of major polyolefins player Borealis.

ADNOC’s 2030 strategy is centered on maximizing the value from every barrel of oil to ensure a more profitable upstream, a more valuable downstream and a more sustainable and economic gas supply. Under the strategy, production of crude oil is set to rise to 3.5 million barrels per day by 2018, with plans for refining capacity to double and petrochemical production to triple and include higher value products.