Adnoc has signed a 15-year sale and purchase agreement with Inpex Corporation, Japan’s largest upstream oil and gas company, to supply one million metric tonnes of LNG per year from its Ruwais project in Abu Dhabi.
The deal was announced during a visit by Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Adnoc’s managing director and CEO, to Japan, where he led a delegation for meetings with senior government officials and business leaders aimed at deepening the long-standing energy partnership between the two countries.
Nasser Al Mheiri, acting CEO of Adnoc’s Downstream, Manufacturing, Marketing and Trading directorate and chairman of Ruwais LNG, said the agreement with Inpex is the first long-term LNG deal signed since Adnoc and XRG launched their integrated global LNG marketing and trading platform. He described it as confirmation of market confidence in the Ruwais project and a step toward expanding access to international buyers.
Adnoc and XRG are targeting 47 million tonnes per year of marketable LNG by 2035. The Ruwais project, Al Mheiri said, will serve as a key source of reliable, flexible, and lower-emissions supply for customers across Asia and beyond.
The agreement also aligns with Inpex’s Vision 2035 strategy, announced in February 2025, which aims to build out the Japanese company’s LNG portfolio. Inpex is already a long-term strategic partner in Adnoc’s upstream operations, holding stakes in several onshore and offshore Abu Dhabi concessions.
Located in the Ruwais Industrial City, the project comprises two liquefaction trains with a combined capacity of 9.6 million metric tonnes per year, each rated at 4.8 million tonnes. Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in 2028, at which point Adnoc Gas expects to acquire Adnoc’s 60% stake at an estimated cost of around $5 billion, as announced in November 2024. That acquisition would more than double Adnoc Gas’s current LNG production capacity to approximately 15 million metric tonnes per year.
To date, 90% of the project’s 9.6 million tonne annual capacity has been committed to international buyers in Asia and Europe under long-term agreements.
Ruwais LNG is set to become the first LNG export facility in the Middle East and North Africa to run on clean electricity, placing it among the lowest-carbon-intensity LNG plants globally. The facility will also use artificial intelligence and advanced technology to improve safety standards, raise efficiency, and reduce emissions.
