What Is XRG? Inside Abu Dhabi’s $150 Billion Bet on Energy, Chemicals and AI

XRG is still a new name in Abu Dhabi, but the investment company says its valuation has already risen above $150 billion. Adnoc launched it in November 2024 with an enterprise value of more than $80 billion and a mandate to accelerate international expansion.

XRG describes itself as Adnoc’s international investment company, with holdings across natural gas, chemicals and energy solutions. To outsiders, a gas project in the United States, an ammonia producer, a German advanced-materials company and energy infrastructure can look like unrelated bets. Mohamed Al Aryani, XRG’s president of international gas, says the company sees them as links in a much longer chain.

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People often look at our portfolio and see a gas asset in one market, a chemicals business in another, and energy infrastructure somewhere else. We look at it differently.

“People often look at our portfolio and see a gas asset in one market, a chemicals business in another, and energy infrastructure somewhere else. We look at it differently,” Al Aryani told Khaleej Times. “What connects them is a very simple question: How will the world produce, move and use energy and materials over the next 20 or 30 years and beyond?”

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What connects them is a very simple question: How will the world produce, move and use energy and materials over the next 20 or 30 years and beyond?

Ammonia illustrates that approach. Fertiglobe, majority owned through XRG, produces ammonia and urea for agriculture. Covestro, the German advanced-materials company XRG acquired last year, also uses ammonia in chemical manufacturing. Those chemicals can ultimately become insulation, furniture, cars and other everyday products. “The phrase we often use is ‘from molecule to customer’,” Al Aryani said. “We are not interested in owning isolated assets. We are interested in building positions across the value chain where the pieces strengthen one another.”

The companies are testing those connections. In February, Covestro, Fertiglobe and Abu Dhabi chemicals company Ta’ziz signed a memorandum of understanding to explore ammonia supplies from Fertiglobe to Covestro sites in China and the United States, with longer-term options for Europe and broader cooperation in the UAE. Covestro later said it had begun a feasibility study for a possible MDI facility in the UAE. MDI is used in rigid polyurethane foam for building and appliance insulation.

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The phrase we often use is ‘from molecule to customer’.

XRG also links its energy strategy to artificial intelligence. “For most people, AI is a technology story. For us, it’s also an energy story,” Al Aryani said. “Every new data centre requires electricity. It requires infrastructure. It requires cooling systems. It”

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For most people, AI is a technology story. For us, it’s also an energy story.