XRG, the Abu Dhabi-based international investment arm of ADNOC, has agreed to acquire Shell's 16.67 per cent non-operated stake in Australia's North West Shelf LNG project for $1.45 billion, about Dh5.3 billion. The joint venture, which also includes Woodside, Chevron, BP, MIMI and CNOOC, has an annual liquefaction capacity of 14.3 million tonnes and still holds an estimated 4.4 trillion cubic feet of gas in remaining resources.

The deal is expected to close in 2027, the company said. Mohamed Al Aryani, president of XRG International Gas, said the North West Shelf investment "created Australia's LNG industry" and continues to contribute to the country's economy.

XRG, wholly owned by ADNOC, now carries an enterprise value above $150 billion and has made a string of major acquisitions across the global energy sector in recent years, including in Europe and North America. Analysts see the Shell stake purchase as part of ADNOC's strategy to diversify its gas portfolio geographically and reduce reliance on regional markets alone.

The announcement came on the same day ADNOC Gas separately confirmed a five-year LNG supply deal with TotalEnergies, underlining how active Abu Dhabi's energy groups have been in global gas markets over the past few weeks. Together, the two deals point to Abu Dhabi positioning itself as a long-term LNG supplier on one side and an equity investor in overseas gas infrastructure on the other — a dual approach industry watchers expect to continue as global LNG demand keeps rising through the end of the decade.