The United Arab Emirates has announced plans to expand its investments in the U.S. energy sector to $440 billion by 2035, a significant increase from the current $70 billion. The move was revealed during a presentation by Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), to former U.S. President Donald Trump during the final leg of his Gulf tour.
The commitment marks a major milestone in the UAE’s strategic push to deepen economic ties with the United States, as well as President Trump’s efforts to secure high-profile business deals across the Gulf. “We’re making great progress for the $1.4 trillion that the UAE has announced it intends to spend in the United States,” Trump said at a press conference in Abu Dhabi.
Al Jaber, who also serves as executive chairman of ADNOC’s international investment arm XRG, said the UAE’s expanded investments would include $60 billion in new projects related to upstream oil and gas, as well as unconventional energy opportunities. U.S. energy giants such as ExxonMobil, Occidental (Oxy), and EOG Resources are expected to participate in these developments in the UAE.
In addition to energy, the UAE’s broader 10-year investment framework — first announced in March — includes a $1.4 trillion commitment to sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing. The White House described the plan as a means to “substantially increase the UAE’s existing investments in the U.S. economy.”
Trump also confirmed that both countries had agreed to establish a pathway for the UAE to purchase advanced AI semiconductors from American companies — a deal he described as “very big” and strategically important for the UAE’s ambitions to become a global technology leader.
“And I read where — the oil and gas and all is great — but you’re going to have equally big, and maybe even bigger [industries]… at some point, you’ll be surpassing it with AI and other businesses,” Trump told UAE officials.
As part of this evolving partnership, XRG is reportedly pursuing major stakes in U.S. natural gas assets. ADNOC’s interest in NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG facility and a planned ExxonMobil hydrogen plant in Texas has been transferred to XRG, which was established last year with $80 billion in assets under management.
Separately, Mubadala Energy — a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund — recently signed an agreement with U.S. firm Kimmeridge to acquire stakes in American natural gas assets, further reinforcing the UAE’s long-term commitment to U.S. energy markets.
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