UAE's ADNOC eyes US acquisitions amid Trump's energy boom
Close political ties between the UAE and the Trump administration are likely to bode well for Abu Dhabi-based firms looking to tap the American shale boom.
DUBAI — ADNOC Drilling, a drilling and oil field services subsidiary of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, is interested in acquiring mid-market energy services companies in the United States as part of a $1 billion spending plan for 2025.
While the company intends to keep its focus on acquiring rigs or drilling companies in the Middle East, particularly in Oman and Kuwait, it is open to acquisitions in the United States amid an expected boom in oil drilling under the Trump administration, its chief financial officer said.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to increase US oil and gas drilling and declared a national energy emergency within hours of taking office last month.
"We're focused on the Middle East, but the [energy] services companies [with] the biggest operations are in the biggest unconventional basins in the US, the Permian [Basin]," Youssef Salem, chief financial officer at ADNOC Drilling, told Al-Monitor.
