Energy security enters a new era as Sultan Al Jaber charts a course through unprecedented global disruption

Speaking at ADIPEC 2026, the Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology calls for fundamental reimagining of how the world builds, protects and delivers secure energy in an increasingly uncertain landscape

The opening address at ADIPEC 2026 articulated a truth that has rippled through boardrooms and kitchens alike: energy security has become a question for everyone. No longer the province of specialists debating in closed rooms, it now occupies the minds of families, farmers, industries and business owners wrestling with an unstable global landscape marked by unprecedented disruption and exposed vulnerabilities in international supply chains.

Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Managing Director and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), set out the challenge with clarity. A year of unprecedented market stress has stripped away the comfortable assumptions upon which energy systems rested for decades. Nearly one billion barrels of crude have been drained from inventories since disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. Diesel stocks in some markets have fallen to their lowest seasonal levels in 35 years. Others face a 600 billion cubic feet liquefied natural gas supply gap. The world, he said simply, has eroded its supply buffers.

Yet supply, he noted, is only half the equation. Delivery has become equally consequential. Before the recent disruptions, logistics represented less than five per cent of the cost of a barrel. Today they consume more than 30 per cent. Energy security, in this new reality, is measured not merely at the point of production but at the point of delivery.

Dr. Al Jaber outlined five pillars upon which a more resilient global energy system must rest. Accessible supply requires expanded strategic storage, larger stockpiles of products and flexible refining capacity positioned closer to consumer markets. Routes to market demand infrastructure built before it is needed, enabled by advanced logistics. Operational intelligence requires moving from automated systems to intelligent energy ecosystems that anticipate risk, optimise performance and reduce the cost of every barrel. Capital follows confidence, which policy must create, finance must accelerate and insurance must sustain. And fifth, most importantly, people: behind every barrel that reaches its destination stands a person responsible for ensuring it did.

The UAE has demonstrated this resilience not through improvisation but through preparation. The nation’s leadership wrote its resilience playbook years before the recent disruptions tested it. ADNOC’s modernisation transformed the company into an integrated trading enterprise with world-class logistics, a global portfolio spanning gas, chemicals and energy solutions, and an end-to-end artificial intelligence enabled operating model designed for a world of rising demand.

This commitment to preparedness has now evolved into partnership. ADNOC, OpenAI and G42 have formed a collaboration to harness frontier artificial intelligence in transforming field development, well management and commercial operations. The agreement, guided by His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, positions ADNOC as the world’s first energy company to deploy OpenAI Frontier technology. The partnership addresses a question the world has asked since ChatGPT emerged: what can energy do for artificial intelligence. Now, the collaboration asks the reverse: what can artificial intelligence do for energy.

Speaking under the patronage of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Dr. Al Jaber reflected on the values that have sustained the nation through testing times. The UAE model rests on a principle of belonging measured not by where one was born but by where one stands when it matters most. During the period of recent disruptions, talent remained, capital stayed and investment continued to flow. This resilience stems from the leadership’s steadfast commitment to dialogue, active diplomacy and political solutions that bring stability to markets, energy flows and the global economy.

ADIPEC 2026 convenes this conversation at scale, drawing an expected record attendance of over 239,000 attendees from more than 170 countries, with over 2,250 exhibiting companies, 1,800 speakers and 30 country pavilions gathering at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

What it means for Abu Dhabi

This moment marks a pivot point for Abu Dhabi’s role in global energy architecture. The partnership with OpenAI and G42 positions the emirate not merely as an energy producer but as a laboratory for the integration of artificial intelligence into energy systems. ADNOC’s transformation into a customer-centric energy company enabled by advanced technology signals Abu Dhabi’s intention to shape how the world meets rising energy demand while building the resilience required by an increasingly uncertain geopolitical and economic environment.

For Abu Dhabi’s residents and businesses, this commitment to energy security and technological innovation reinforces the broader narrative of stability and forward thinking that has defined the emirate’s development. As global energy flows remain subject to disruption, the leadership’s investment in diversified supply routes, intelligent systems and strategic partnerships protects the economic foundation upon which the emirate’s prosperity rests, whilst positioning Abu Dhabi as a trusted partner for nations and enterprises seeking reliable, innovative energy solutions.

Adapted from a report by the Emirates News Agency (WAM).