Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) revealed Thursday that its
shipping arm ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S) has added six
very large crude carriers (VLCC) to its fleet as the UAE sate energy
company expands production and moves further into trading.

Two of the tankers were purchased from Norwegian owner Hunter Group
in 2020, delivered in December and are already operating, and one
was purchased this week and will be joining the UAE shipowner''s
fleet shortly. The other three ships (plus options) are newbuilds
scheduled for delivery from South Korea''s Daewoo Shipbuilding &
Marine Engineering in 2022 and 2023.

"Given recent market conditions, we were able to purchase both
existing and newbuild vessels at competitive prices," said Capt.
Abdulkareem Al Masabi, CEO, ADNOC L&S. "Owning these vessels will
deliver cost efficiencies for our business, as opposed to chartering
vessels, while also enabling us to provide a more reliable service
to customers. These purchases also further reinforce our position as
the largest, fully integrated logistics and shipping company in the
region, paving the way for the transportation of greater crude
volumes to customers across the world."

The six VLCCs are ADNOC L&S''s first, each at least 330 meters long
and 300,000 deadweight tonnes, adding a total cargo capacity of 12
million barrels, the company said.

"The acquisition of these six VLCCs is one of our most significant
growth steps to-date. This strategic move allows us to offer new
services to our customers and supports ADNOC and its trading
entities to access new global energy markets, while also delivering
incremental value and a new revenue stream to our business," Al
Masabi said.

The owner and operator of UAE''s largest shipping fleet said it is
pursuing a major expansion program as parent company ADNOC expands
its production and refining capacity and grows its new trading
operations. The company currently has a capacity of more than 4
million barrels of oil per day (bopd), with ambitions to reach 5
million bopd by 2030.

The VLCCs add to ADNOC L&S''s fleet of 120 owned vessels, which
includes 16 deep-sea vessels acquired in 2020 as well as offshore
support and marine services vessels. The company also confirmed the
order of five newbuild and one recent secondhand dual fuel very
large gas carriers (VLGC) for AW Shipping, its joint venture with
Wanhua Chemical Group, and recently announced the purchase of three
Ultramax and one Handysize bulk carriers.

Last year ADNOC established two new trading companies: ADNOC
Trading, which is focused on crude oil, and ADNOC Global Trading
(AGT), a joint venture with Italian supermajor ENI and Austrian oil
company OMV for the trading of refined products.