ADNOC Adds Six VLCCs
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) revealed Thursday that its shipping arm ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S) has added six very large crude carriers (VLCC) to its fleet as the UAE sate energy company expands production and moves further into trading.
Two of the tankers were purchased from Norwegian owner Hunter Group in 2020, delivered in December and are already operating, and one was purchased this week and will be joining the UAE shipowner's fleet shortly. The other three ships (plus options) are newbuilds scheduled for delivery from South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2022 and 2023.
"Given recent market conditions, we were able to purchase both existing and newbuild vessels at competitive prices," said Capt. Abdulkareem Al Masabi, CEO, ADNOC L&S. "Owning these vessels will deliver cost efficiencies for our business, as opposed to chartering vessels, while also enabling us to provide a more reliable service to customers. These purchases also further reinforce our position as the largest, fully integrated logistics and shipping company in the region, paving the way for the transportation of greater crude volumes to customers across the world."
The six VLCCs are ADNOC L&S's first, each at least 330 meters long and 300,000 deadweight tonnes, adding a total cargo capacity of 12 million barrels, the company said.
"The acquisition of these six VLCCs is one of our most significant growth steps to-date. This strategic move allows us to offer new services to our customers and supports ADNOC and its trading entities to access new global energy markets, while also delivering incremental value and a new revenue stream to our business," Al Masabi said.
The owner and operator of UAE's largest shipping fleet said it is pursuing a major expansion program as parent company ADNOC expands its production and refining capacity and grows its new trading operations. The company currently has a capacity of more than 4 million barrels of oil per day (bopd), with ambitions to reach 5 million bopd by 2030.
The VLCCs add to ADNOC L&S's fleet of 120 owned vessels, which includes 16 deep-sea vessels acquired in 2020 as well as offshore support and marine services vessels. The company also confirmed the order of five newbuild and one recent secondhand dual fuel very large gas carriers (VLGC) for AW Shipping, its joint venture with Wanhua Chemical Group, and recently announced the purchase of three Ultramax and one Handysize bulk carriers.
Last year ADNOC established two new trading companies: ADNOC Trading, which is focused on crude oil, and ADNOC Global Trading (AGT), a joint venture with Italian supermajor ENI and Austrian oil company OMV for the trading of refined products.