ADIPEC Days III & IV: Energy opportunity takes shape

As ADIPEC 2026 entered its home stretch over days three and four, the show, that convened under the masthead slogan of 'where energy opportunity takes shape' did live up to that with US$67 billion in energy deals being inked in Abu Dhabi amid a flurry of activity. 

Of all the agreements signed at the event, the standout one to emerge for this blogger was XRG's agreement with Shell. 

The deal will see XRG acquire Shell's 16.67% stake in Australia's North West Shelf LNG project, expanding its international gas portfolio and strengthening energy links with Asia Pacific markets, for nearly $1.5 billion plus further milestone-linked payments.

On the conference side, more of the nearly 400 ADIPEC sessions got underway to discuss the energy sector's approaching horizon, with the challenges and opportunities it is raising in an operating climate that appears pretty tough, at least over the near-term. 

Among the day three sessions was one of yours truly's outings as a moderator titled - Energy diversification as strategic defence: how oil shocks are accelerating the clean energy build-out - with fellow panellists Brian Sullivan, CEO of IPIECA, and Eduard Ruijs, Head of Investments and Origination, and Head of Transition at Vitol. 

In a lively session, we assessed where diversification into clean electrons, molecules and storage creates genuine security, and where it may introduce new vulnerabilities. 

More so, as the world has had to confront two energy shocks in quick succession. Clean energy investment capped $2 trillion in 2025. But this is addition not replacement, both panellists said. Global demand continues to grow, fossil fuels still supply more than 80% of the world's energy, and no single source can carry the load alone dear readers. 

Ultimately, we all agreed on the pragmatic view that the choice is not old or new energy - but rather which resource or combination of resources delivers reliability, affordability and declining emissions, suited to which particular geography or market. 

Meanwhile, the Middle East - and its two big beasts ADNOC and Aramco - continue to lead the way when it comes to investing in energy automation to improve throughput.

In fact, nearly three-quarters of regional leaders are upping their investment in automation, as this blogger's recent research with Schneider Electric, published at ADIPEC 2026, revealed. Here are the details of the study. And here's a Forbes op-ed on the embrace of AI by the Middle East's leading two energy companies and their announcements during ADIPEC week should you be interested.

The Oilholic's broadcast media commentary also came thick and fast over the course of the event, with plenty of talking points from the premium in spot oil prices (to futures prices) to market volatility, shipping rates to energy AI, and, of course, US mid-term elections to global geopolitics. 

Some of the broadcasters yours truly provided market commentary to included Asharq Bloomberg, Azertac, Business Today India and CGTN over a news-packed week at the event. 

Finally, on day four, as always - the Oilholic took time out to visit ADIPEC's sprawling exhibition halls, its ever-growing number of energy technology and AI exhibits, listening to the product seminars at the various booths, finding out what the oil and gas majors are up to and what can we expect from the global energy and industrial software vendors over the upcoming year. 

Yours truly also marked year 10 at the event with a very special visit to ADIPEC host ADNOC's booth - an energy company that's widely regarded to be leading the sector in terms of automation and AI. 

More on this special visit and an exchange with ADNOC colleagues coming soon, so watch this space.

And that dear readers is that, as the curtain falls on ADIPEC 2026, and a decade of The Oilholic being a part of the world's largest energy show. 

Over the last decade ADIPEC has routinely seen participants from over 170 countries, truly reinforcing its position as a global meeting point for the energy industry. And particularly so in recent years as the world's attention proactively and progressively turns toward addressing the energy trilemma of security, affordability and sustainability. So, here's to the next decade dear readers. More market musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2026. Photo I: Crowds at ADIPEC 2026. Photo II: (left to right) Energy Analyst Gaurav Sharma, Brian Sullivan, CEO of IPIECA, and Eduard Ruijs, Head of Investments and Origination, and Head of Transition at Vitol speak at an ADIPEC panel. © dmgevents, November 2026. Photo III: Energy Analyst Gaurav Sharma at the ADIPEC Global Energy Club. Photo IV: Energy Analyst Gaurav Sharma giving broadcast media interviews at ADIPEC 2026 © Christopher Pike / APCO Worldwide. Photo V: ADIPEC 2026 sign-off by Gaurav Sharma. 

ADIPEC 2026 Days I & II: Upscaling energy AI & more

ADIPEC 2026 - the world's largest energy event - got underway on Monday with the Oilholic in town to hear ADNOC CEO Dr Sultan Al Jaber and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman unveil their tie-up to deploy the latter's Frontier AI for the former's operations - a first for the energy industry. 

Dr Al Jaber said ADNOC's ultimate ambition is to make it "the most customer-centric" and agile energy company in the world. 

Altman - who's keen to build his business in the Middle East - said the move highlights a much-needed symbiosis between the technology and energy sectors to meet the challenge of rising global energy consumption. Altman, of course, wasn't the only "tech bro" in town, as The Oilholic predicted in a Forbes op-ed last month (Click here to read). 

They're out here in their droves as the energy-AI nexus unsurprisingly grows bigger by the minute, with ADIPEC's ever-growing AI exhibition hall offering ample proof of that. Floor space allocated to it is up 27% compared to last year at the event's venue - ADNEC - a 154,000 sq. metre facility in Abu Dhabi. 

AIQ, Microsoft, IBM, SLB, Dell and Nvidia - they are all here rubbing shoulders with the industrial automation, AI and smart manufacturing vendors - ABB, Emerson, Eaton, Honeywell, Mitsubishi, Omron Automation, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Rockwell Automation and Yokogawa.

Following the conclusion of opening pleasantries, the conference agenda got going via 13 conference streams, with the security situation in the Middle East keeping a few C-Suites away. Yet many were here in their numbers including the bosses of Baker Hughes, Oxy, Equinor, Vitol and several others, especially Meg O'Neill, CEO of BP, with the eyes of the energy world on her after a bumper set of results, and her recent stewardship of the company that has seen its share price rise 27% year to date.

In her remarks, O'Neill was keen to stress "shareholder considerations" are behind some of BP's recent moves including the sale of Castrol, partial divestment of a stake in Aker BP, announcement of an exit from the UK sector of the North Sea, scaling down of renewables ambitions and more. Doubtless, that's music to some, if not all, shareholders' ears in light of BP's recent share price gains. 

The Oilholic got his ADIPEC 2026 speaking engagements going with two fireside chats on day two of the event. 

The first of these was the opening session of the morning, hosting Alessandro Bernini, CEO of integrated energy, chemicals and sustainable technology solutions group MAIRE. 

In an engaging Energy Talk session at the event, he highlighted how the project execution advantage is built before even the first bolt turns. 

The MAIRE Group CEO also discussed the evolving macro-climate and the challenges and opportunities it offers. Here's a full report on the session from Energy Connects.

Later in the day, the Oilholic also had the pleasure of hosting Bruno Melles, EVP and CEO of the transformers business unit at Hitachi Energy for an executive leadership session. 

It was titled: 'The power demand surge: financing, contracting and building the next 1,100 TWh'. 

We discussed how industrial expansion across Asia, accelerating transport electrification and the rapid buildout of data centres are reshaping load profiles. 

We also touched on Hitachi Energy's work in the transformers space and how generation portfolios and contracting approaches are being structured for resilience and returns where fuel security can no longer be assumed.

Well that's all for the moment folks. More from ADIPEC soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2026. Photo I: Dr Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of ADNOC inaugurates ADIPEC 2026. Photo II: Energy Analyst Gaurav Sharma (left) with Alessandro Bernini, CEO of MAIRE Group. Photo III: Energy Analyst Gaurav Sharma (left) with Bruno Melles, EVP and CEO of the transformers business unit at Hitachi Energy. Photos © dmgevents, 2026. 

ADIPEC 2026 sessions to be hosted by yours truly

The Oilholic is delighted to be back in Abu Dhabi, UAE for ADIPEC 2026, the world's largest energy conference and exhibition of its kind, being held here from November 2 to 5. Yours truly will be hosting three panel sessions at the event with distinguished industry leaders. Here are the details of the sessions as ADIPEC week unfolds:

Tuesday, November 3, ADNEC Conference Room B - Impact Theatre @ 9:50am GST

The execution advantage: competing in an era of industrial complexity

With:

• Alessandro Bernini, CEO, MAIRE

Tuesday, November 3, ADNEC Conference Room B - Impact Theatre @ 12:50pm GST

The power demand surge: financing, contracting and building the next 1,100 TWh

With: 

• Bruno Melles, EVP & CEO, Transformers Business Unit, Hitachi Energy

Wednesday, November 4, ADNEC Conference Room A - Exchange Theatre @ 11:40am GST

Energy diversification as strategic defence: how oil shocks are accelerating the clean energy build-out

With: 

• Brian Sullivan, CEO IPIECA
• Eduard Ruijs, Head of Investments & Origination, Head of Transition, Vitol

More from ADIPEC soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

To follow The Oilholic on Twitter click here.

To follow The Oilholic on Forbes click here.

To follow The Oilholic on Energy Connects click here.

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2026. Digital banners courtesy of dmgevents. 

Year 10 of speaking and moderating at ADIPEC nears

Delighted to announce that yours truly will be moderating and speaking at ADIPEC 2026 - the world's largest energy conference and exhibition - in Abu Dhabi, UAE, from November 2 to 5, on a number of panels and executive dialogues. This year's ADIPEC will also be The Oilholic's tenth outing at the event, where energy opportunity takes shape, and one can hardly wait. Super excited, going to drum roll and uncork the ol' champers for this one dear readers! 

Explore ADIPEC's exciting and wide-ranging agenda here. Discussions touch on critical energy issues of our age, geopolitics and technological advancements through industrial AI, automation and advanced computing. More details on The Oilholic's panels and sessions will appear here shortly. 

It's all about energy resource management and transition through innovation, visionary leadership and action.

Looking forward to the deliberations, meeting thought leaders, fellow industry professionals and colleagues. Join, if you can, for some fantastic industry exchanges and networking in Abu Dhabi. 

More from ADIPEC soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2026. Digital banner courtesy of dmgevents. 

Mixing it up with energy startups at Norrsken

This week, the Oilholic attended the launch of Norrsken Foundation's annual selection list of the 100 most promising early-stage startups - the Norrsken 100 - in Barcelona, Spain at IMPACT/WEEK 2026. 

What's piqued this blogger's interest in the list is the rising prominence of energy startups on it. Of the 100 startups to have received the recognition, 26 happen to be energy upstarts. 

First a word on the list, the foundation curates it from nominations made by 80-odd partners including prominent global venture capital firms, NGOs, academics and industry professionals in the sphere. 

This year they received over 1,400 applications to be judged on the criteria of those attempting to solve "global challenges at scale" by outperforming legacy models that created them. "In our opinion, they shape what comes next and perhaps represent 100 ways to fix the future," said a spokesperson. 

In a rapidly electrifying, digitizing and automating world that is staring at an exponential growth in energy demand, it is perhaps no surprise that over a fourth those attempting to change the way we do things on the Norrsken list happen to energy startups. 

At the unveiling of the Norrsken 100 - at Norrsken House, Barcelona on Wednesday - was none other than former US Secretary of State, Massachusetts Senator and Climate Envoy John Kerry. 

He's the current Co-Executive Chairman of investment firm Galvanize that focuses on scaling up commercially competitive climate solutions. 

Following the unveiling and keynote remarks by Kerry, yours truly caught up with him to discuss the energy market's direction and rising global demand permutations. 

"Meeting this rising challenge will require collaboration, and encouraging startups like the ones recognised here. Question here is not which energy transition solution to back but rather what can be accelerated and upscaled where in the shortest possible time at the most competitive price," he noted. 

Yours truly also discussed the emerging energy landscape in the US. He described it as pretty "promising," despite the febrile political atmosphere stateside that he alluded to in his opening remarks at the event, albeit a tad skewed to his political leanings. 

Beyond the US, Kerry emphasised the need to bring "Global South" along for the energy transition journey as the biggest effects of energy poverty and most devastating effects of climate change are often felt there. 

Following a conversation with Kerry, this blogger headed to the event's dialogues and a rather unique 'Fixathon.' A spokesperson described it a "hackathon, but focused on solving real-world challenges that desperately need fixing."

And based on this premise, the participants collaborate in teams to turn ideas into applicable solutions or working prototypes, using AI and open tools. 

Away from the sessions, dialogues, meetings and fixathons, the Oilholic mingled with the founders and CEOs of three energy startups on the Norrsken 100. 

They included Saurabh Kapoor, CEO of Metafuels, a name the readers of this blog should be pretty familiar with. (More here, if you are not). 

The other two included - Guilherme Studart, CEO of Delfos Energy, an energy-tech firm that deploys AI via a purpose-built platform for the advanced management of renewable energy assets, and Linus van Ginhoven, Head of Product at Blykalla, a company offering lead-cooled nuclear technology solutions. It was great hearing from both about their respective firms, and their plans for the future.  

Well that's all from Barcelona folks, more market musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2026. Photo I: Norrsken IMPACT/WEEK 2026 proceedings.Photo II: Former US Secretary of State John Kerry (left) with Energy Market Analyst Gaurav Sharma. Photo III (right to left): Energy Market Analyst Gaurav Sharma, with Harry Ashcroft, co-founder of Perseid and Saurabh Kapoor, CEO and co-founder of Metafuels. © Gaurav Sharma, October 2026.