The UAE plans to increase its energy investments in the U.S. to $440 billion by 2035, said Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, on Friday.
Al Jaber announced the strategy during a presentation to Trump. The value of UAE investments in the U.S. energy sector will be boosted to $440 billion by 2035 from $70 billion now, Al Jaber told Trump, adding that U.S. energy firms will also invest in the UAE.
“Our partners have committed new investments worth $60 billion in upstream oil and gas, as well as new and unconventional opportunities,” Al Jaber said.
The announcement came as Trump held a meeting with key business leaders in Abu Dhabi. During the meeting, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said, “The AI Industrial Revolution is coming to the world, and it needs power, so our focus is going to be to dramatically increase the power production in America.” Lutnick added that the U.S. seeks to double its power capacity with the support of key partners, including the UAE.
For his part, Trump also spoke on energy production to power the new AI industrial revolution, saying, “You’re going to see some incredible investment going back into the U.S.”
XRG seeks investments in U.S. natural gas
The UAE had committed in March to a 10-year, $1.4 trillion investment framework in the United States to deepen reciprocal ties. During Trump’s latest visit to the UAE, he also announced deals totalling over $200 billion. The two countries also agreed to deepen cooperation in artificial intelligence.
“We’re making great progress for the $1.4 trillion that UAE has announced it intends to spend in the United States,” Trump said in Abu Dhabi. “Yesterday, the two countries also agreed to create a path for UAE to buy some of the world’s most advanced AI semiconductors from American companies, a very big contract,” he added.
Trump said the deal will generate billions of dollars in business and accelerate efforts by the UAE to become a major player in artificial intelligence.
XRG, the international investment arm of ADNOC, is seeking to make a significant investment in U.S. natural gas, Al Jaber said. Notably, ADNOC’s stakes in NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG export facility and a planned ExxonMobil hydrogen plant were transferred to XRG, which was launched last year with $80 billion in assets. The company also has a mandate to pursue global deals in chemicals, natural gas and renewables.
$60 billion energy deal signed
As part of the $200 billion UAE investment announcement, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum and EOG Resources are partnering with the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) for expanded oil and natural gas production valued at $60 billion that will help lower energy costs and create hundreds of skilled jobs in both countries.
During Trump’s visit to the UAE, Holtec International and IHC Industrial Holding Company (IHC) also entered into a cooperation to build a fleet of Holtec’s SMR-300 small modular reactors, starting at the Palisades site in Michigan.
This agreement includes a commitment of $10 billion, and an additional $20 billion for fleet projects, helping to revitalize American nuclear energy infrastructure, strengthen domestic energy security, and create high-skilled jobs in engineering, construction and advanced manufacturing across the United States.
Read| Trump in UAE: $200 billion in new deals announced, AI partnership expanded
Clean energy partnership
The UAE-U.S. energy partnership has been longstanding. A pivotal initiative is the UAE-U.S. Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy (PACE), launched in November 2022, which aims to mobilize $100 billion in financing and investment to deploy 100GW of clean energy by 2035.
Ahead of Trump’s visit to the UAE, Ben Dietderich, press secretary and chief spokesperson at the U.S. Department of Energy, stated that the U.S. and the UAE share a long-standing partnership in the energy sector and are dedicated to enhancing cooperation on global energy supply security and resilient infrastructure.
In remarks to WAM, Dietderich noted, “We see great potential to expand our collaboration and welcome the UAE’s growing investments in American energy projects,” adding that new partnerships would foster economic growth for both nations.
Dietderich emphasized the trusted partnership between the two countries in the realm of civil nuclear cooperation, highlighting the department’s commitment to the continued safe and innovative deployment of nuclear technologies.
The energy relationship between the UAE and the United States, he stressed, extends beyond trade and investment—it encompasses knowledge exchange, institutional development, and the promotion of affordable, reliable, and secure energy in both nations.
In April, the UAE welcomed U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright during his first official overseas visit since taking office, marking the UAE as the first stop on his Middle East tour. During his two-day visit, Wright engaged in high-level discussions with senior government and industry leaders throughout the country.
