ADNOC Gas Signs Deal With Etihad WE to Explore Gas Supply for Northern Emirates Power

The agreement is exploratory. Neither company gave volumes, prices, a contract length or a value, and the statement describes the arrangement as a framework for studying future supply rather than a binding sales contract. If it leads to a contract, it would add a new domestic market for ADNOC Gas, which is raising its output under a large expansion programme. It would also give the utility in the north a reliable, locally produced fuel source as electricity demand grows.

ADNOC Gas said the deal serves two of its strategic priorities: meeting rising electricity demand in the UAE, and growing its share of the domestic market as new gas supply comes online. The company said that linking new power plants to locally produced gas would make the national energy system more resilient and reduce dependence on imported fuel.

ADNOC Gas chief executive Fatema Al Nuaimi said the company is continuing to invest to meet the country's growing energy needs. She said expanded production capacity and new infrastructure would allow it to connect new gas supply to new customers and support future power projects, creating long-term value for shareholders.

Yousif Ahmed Al Ali, chief executive of Etihad WE, said the utility is building a balanced mix of gas-fired and renewable generation to meet long-term demand in the north of the country. He said the partnership would improve its access to reliable, long-term gas supply.

The extra gas is expected to come from two ADNOC Gas projects, the company said. The Rich Gas Development project will raise processing capacity and make more natural gas available to domestic customers. The Estidama project is upgrading and extending ADNOC Gas's pipeline network so it can carry larger volumes from its processing plants to customers across the country.

The agreement follows a larger deal in Abu Dhabi. In January 2025, ADNOC Gas signed a 10-year flexible gas sales and purchase agreement worth about $10 billion with Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), Abu Dhabi's utility, to supply plants in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE. Gulf News reported at the time that the longer contract gave ADNOC Gas clearer visibility on future income from that customer. The Etihad WE agreement would extend that domestic supply model to the federal grid in the north.

On November 5, Etihad WE separately said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Al Ghurair BCS to pilot digital twin technology at one of its substations, using the ETAP platform. Etihad WE will choose a 132/11 kV substation for the trial. Al Ghurair BCS will build a digital model of the station, apply the platform's intelligent single-line diagram module, and train and support the utility's staff during the evaluation.

Abdulla Al Khumairi, Etihad WE's chief operating officer, said the trial would let the utility judge how well such tools improve network planning and operation. Ammar Hamdan, a senior vice president at Al Ghurair BCS, said fast progress in artificial intelligence would increase the value that digital twins can extract from complex grid data.

Neither company has said when the gas talks might produce a binding supply contract or which new power projects in the northern emirates the gas would fuel.