Abu Dhabi: ADNOC wants to buy faster, and it expects suppliers to keep up.
At the Make It with ADNOC Forum in Abu Dhabi today, Senior Vice President of Group Commercial Operations & Execution at ADNOC, Adel Yafei presented a package of procurement changes that will shorten tendering cycles by 40 percent.
Yafei said ADNOC has already moved fast this year. In 2026 so far, the company has awarded more than 8,000 requisitions, contracts and purchase requisitions to more than 1,500 partners. It has also awarded 10 mega EPC projects.
“With that speed, we also expect our partners to keep up with the same speed,” he said.
Best bid gets first priority
For EPC tenders, the most competitive bid will get the highest priority.
“If that bid meets our benchmark aspire target, we will be only talking to you,” Yafei said. “So, if you want to win that priority, be that bidder that gives the most competitive bid.”
For unit rate contracts, ADNOC will negotiate on the market median and not on isolated rates that are outliers. “Cherry picking random rates will not be our negotiation tactic,” he said.
ADNOC will also look at suppliers’ capability to deliver, “even if it was your first experience with ADNOC.”
Faster, but not rushed
Yafei stressed that the 40 percent is time ADNOC saves in its own process. “It is not the time we take from what you need to deliver good technical and commercial offers,” he said.
The bidding period will be set around market requirements. Project schedules will take into account time criticality, scope complexity and market capability and capacity. Suppliers will also get feedback after each tender.
The number of EPC principles has grown from 10 to 20 since the last forum. Yafei said ADNOC kept listening to the market.
What ADNOC will buy
Yafei said suppliers have asked for transparency so they can plan capacity and invest with confidence.
A QR code shown at the forum gives access to the projects ADNOC plans to tender in 2027 and 2028. In drilling and upstream, they include downhole completion, drilling fluids and cementing services. In operations, they include turnaround inspection services and maintenance of compressors, turbines and pumps.
“The demand is real, and the timeline is set, and the partnership is committed,” he said.
Yafei said ADNOC expects partners to bring the right people and decision makers to the table, and to deliver on 100 per cent HSE and ICV contribution.
He also had a message about Emirati talent. Investing in it is “a priority that is not negotiable,” he said.
“They will not only know how to price it; they will also know how to make it.”