ADNOC Gas has signed a five-year deal to sell up to 1.6 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to TotalEnergies, the largest contract announcement from the Abu Dhabi producer since it launched its global LNG trading platform.
The agreement, announced on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange on 3 November, runs for five years and covers up to 1.6 million tonnes of LNG. It extends a relationship in which TotalEnergies is already unusual: the French company is both a shareholder in ADNOC Gas and a partner in the Ruwais LNG project under construction in Abu Dhabi.
Neither company disclosed the contract’s value, its pricing terms or a delivery schedule. What the announcement does show is where ADNOC Gas wants its volumes to sit: in long-term portfolios held by established buyers rather than in one-off spot cargoes. “This agreement reflects the strength of our LNG business, the competitiveness of our supply offering and our ability to secure long-term partnerships that support growth, enhance resilience and create lasting value for shareholders,” said Fatema Al Nuaimi, chief executive of ADNOC Gas.
The timing is not incidental. The deal lands as ADNOC knits three units, ADNOC Gas, the investment arm XRG and ADNOC Trading, into a single global LNG marketing and trading platform. That platform is targeting 47 million tonnes per annum of marketable LNG beyond 2030, which would place it among the world’s largest LNG marketing businesses. Every multi-year offtake signed now is volume the platform can count on when it starts trading at that scale.
For buyers, the arithmetic works differently. TotalEnergies’ gas president, Stephane Michel, pointed to geography: “Thanks to its perfect location between Europe and Asia, this new supply will enable TotalEnergies to confirm its position as one of the main LNG portfolio suppliers.” European buyers have been rebuilding LNG portfolios as Russian pipeline gas recedes, and Asian utilities still take roughly two-thirds of global imports. According to the International Energy Agency’s latest gas market report, Asia accounted for about 65 per cent of global LNG imports in 2025.
The contract also de-risks a supply story that is still being built. ADNOC Gas supplies about 60 per cent of the UAE’s sales gas needs and sells to customers in more than 20 countries, but its export growth depends on Ruwais LNG, which has yet to start production. The company said it expects the project’s integration to “significantly increase” its production capacity. Signing offtake agreements ahead of that capacity is standard practice for LNG developers, and it is how projects like Ruwais justify their final investment decisions to the capital markets.
ADNOC Gas has been spending heavily elsewhere in the meantime. It awarded $8.2 billion in engineering and construction contracts for the second and third phases of its Rich Gas Development in August, part of a $13.2 billion programme to expand gas processing and liquid recovery across the UAE.
The number to watch next is Ruwais LNG’s start-up. Until the plant is producing, agreements like this one are promises against future cargoes, and the platform’s 47-million-tonne target remains a plan rather than a booked position. The next verifiable indicator is whether Ruwais LNG announces first production or further offtake signings in the coming quarters.
