Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is offering more than Dh60 billion ($16.3 billion) in local manufacturing opportunities through 2030, as the state energy giant overhauls procurement to cut supplier onboarding time by as much as 80 per cent.
The opportunities, covering more than 200 essential products and critical spare parts, were unveiled on Sunday at the second Make it with Adnoc Forum in Abu Dhabi, ahead of the Adipec energy conference. The inaugural forum was held in May. Adnoc aims to replace imports with local production to shorten delivery times and reduce exposure to global supply disruptions.
“We are inviting companies to build capabilities in the UAE that will serve our industry and country for years to come,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Adnoc’s managing director and group chief executive and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.
The push follows disruptions to global energy supply chains that have underscored the importance of domestic manufacturing, said Omar Alnuaimi, Adnoc’s group chief for commercial and in-country value (ICV).
“It was our suppliers and vendors and partners who enabled us to continue pushing our products to the world and energy to the world,” he told the forum.
Adnoc has already achieved Dh80 billion of its Dh90 billion local manufacturing target for 2030, supporting the localisation of more than 130 products and the establishment or expansion of 95 factories, Mr Alnuaimi said.
The latest opportunities span drilling equipment, electrical and automation systems, chemicals, catalysts, piping and heavy machinery. Products targeted for local production include electrical submersible pumps, oil country tubular goods, seamless pipes and compressors.
“These are not 200 products only. These are opportunities, partnerships, industries, and a whole value chain,” Mr Alnuaimi said.
Adnoc is also simplifying how suppliers compete for contracts, aiming to shorten purchasing cycles by up to 40 per cent, halve documentation requirements and remove prequalification for 60 per cent of service categories.
From November 1, commercial and ICV offers will be assessed together in a single evaluation weighted 70 per cent towards commercial terms and 30 per cent towards ICV. The change retires Adnoc’s previous bid-matching approach, encouraging suppliers to submit their most competitive offers from the outset.
Contracts below Dh2 million will be exempt from ICV requirements, while those below Dh50 million will no longer face ICV retention obligations, said Salama Alawadhi, Adnoc’s senior vice president for group commercial, ICV and industrial development.
Supplier registration, previously taking weeks, can now be completed within a day, she said. Artificial intelligence will also be used to verify documents through a consolidated supplier platform.
The revised procurement rules could have a wider impact across the UAE’s industrial supply chain, particularly among smaller companies working under major contractors, said Osama Amir Fadhel, assistant undersecretary for industrial accelerators at the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
Zero bureaucracy is in our DNA today
Osama Amir Fadhel, Ministry of Industry and Technology
In an interview with The National, he said the 30 per cent local-content weighting would create a “ripple effect” through the energy sector and could serve as a model for other major buyers.
“Zero bureaucracy is in our DNA today,” Mr Al Fadhel said, describing how efforts to automate government services are spreading to private and state-linked businesses.
The national ICV programme has redirected more than Dh473 billion into the UAE economy, including Dh126 billion last year, and created 28,000 jobs for Emiratis, he said in his address to the forum.
Adnoc’s own programme has redirected more than Dh307 billion since 2018, with its annual contribution reaching Dh65 billion in 2025, up from Dh18 billion in its first year.
The company is working with the ministry, Abu Dhabi Investment Office and other partners to connect manufacturers with investment opportunities and financing through the National Industrial Resilience Fund.
It also expanded its Local+ programme to more than 100 UAE manufacturers, from 70 at its launch in May, requiring contractors bidding on new projects to source eligible products from approved local suppliers.
Abu Dhabi Oilfield Services Company, which participated in the inaugural Make it with Adnoc Forum in May, has doubled its UAE manufacturing capacity since the ICV programme began eight years ago and now exports globally from Abu Dhabi, said Mazen Shehada, its director of business development.
He said the latest changes would make it easier for manufacturers to access Adnoc’s procurement pipeline, while giving them greater certainty over future demand.
“With their offtake agreements, they’re giving us a commitment to enable us to invest more and be able to be confident in our investments,” Mr Shehada told The National.