ADNOC: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi takes chair of new board

The Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the de facto ruler of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, better known under his initials MBZ, has been named the chairman of the board of directors of state oil firm Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

Abu Dhabi is the richest oil emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ADNOC chose Mohamed bin Zayed to be the chair of the company, taking on a role most analysts believe he has been exerting in recent years.

It is worth noting that the Crown Prince is the de facto ruler of Abu Dhabi since the emir of Abu Dhabi Khalifa bin Zayed suffered a stroke in 2014.

The Abu Dhabi media office said via social media channels that Mohamed bin Zayed will chair a newly formed board of directors of ADNOC.

“Khalifa bin Zayed, in his capacity as Chairman of the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs, has issued a resolution to form the board of directors of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), chaired by Mohamed bin Zayed”, the Abu Dhabi media office said on Twitter.

Following the appointment, Mohamed bin Zayed in his capacity as chairman of the board of directors of ADNOC issued a resolution to form the executive committee of the board of directors. The executive committee will be chaired by one of Mohamed bin Zayed’s sons, Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed.

ADNOC’s CEO Sultan Al Jaber was also appointed as the managing director of ADNOC in addition to his CEO role. Al Jaber, together with UAE’s Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei, both sit on ADNOC’s new board of directors and the executive committee of the board of directors.

“This formalizes the crown prince’s role as the head of Adnoc, which had been the case for several years. It provides an important role for his son”, Robin Mills, founder and head of Dubai-based consultancy Qamar Energy, told Bloomberg, commenting on the changes at ADNOC.

To further show how ADNOC is important, it produces nearly all the crude oil in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which is currently OPEC’s third-largest producer behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq.