Bernard Looney, the former CEO of BP, has been appointed to the board of XRG, a new company initiated by Abu Dhabi’s national oil company, Adnoc. XRG is set to focus on investments in global energy assets.
Just last month, Looney took on the role of chair for a US-based data center startup called Prometheus Hyperscale. His return to the energy sector comes a year after his sudden resignation from BP, which was prompted by his failure to fully disclose past personal relationships with female colleagues. Reports in July indicated that Looney was in discussions regarding this new role with XRG.
Adnoc, with an impressive oil production capacity of 4.85 million barrels per day, has announced that XRG aims to launch in the first quarter of next year. The company will specialize in investments across international gas, the chemical sector, and low-carbon energy initiatives.
Sultan Al Jaber, the CEO of Adnoc, described XRG as a “transformative investment company” that will adopt a flexible strategy for investing across the entire energy value chain.
While Adnoc did not provide detailed comments on XRG’s strategy or its funding sources, it did share that the expected enterprise value of XRG will exceed $80 billion, with plans to double its asset value over the next ten years.
XRG is the most recent addition to Abu Dhabi’s investment landscape, which is already home to several major sovereign and investment funds totaling approximately $1.7 trillion in assets, as reported by GlobalSWF. These funds include prominent entities like ADIA, Mubadala, and ADQ, which collectively invested around $36 billion in global projects during the first three quarters of this year.
Recently, Abu Dhabi has launched additional investment initiatives, including MGX, a $100 billion fund focused on artificial intelligence, and Alterra, a $30 billion fund dedicated to climate-focused investments.
The board of directors for XRG consists of seven members, led by Jaber. It includes notable figures such as Mohamed Alsuwaidi, the UAE’s investment minister and head of ADQ, Ahmed Al Mazrouei, chair of the president’s office for strategic affairs, and Jasim Al Zaabi, chair of Abu Dhabi’s finance department. Among the international members are Jonathan Gray, president of Blackstone, and Egyptian entrepreneur Nassef Sawiris.
Originally intended as a private equity investment firm, XRG is stated to be on track to become one of the top five chemicals companies globally, potentially involving assets like the German chemicals firm Covestro, which received a €14.7 billion takeover proposal from Adnoc last month.
A source familiar with XRG commented that the company’s focus will expand beyond its initial key areas, suggesting a strategy that could resemble private equity activities.
Looney, Sawiris, and Gray chose not to comment on these developments.