ADNOC Gas increased its cumulative investment in the Rich Gas Development (RGD) program to $13.2 billion after approving the next stages of the program and awarding $8.2 billion in new EPC contracts. The decision will expand natural gas processing capacity at Habshan and increase natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery at Ruwais, two strategic facilities within the United Arab Emirates’ energy infrastructure.
The company reached the final investment decision (FID) for phases 2 and 3 of the project and awarded the new contracts to Wison Engineering and Tecnimont. The awards follow approximately $5 billion committed to the first phase of RGD in 2025, significantly increasing the financial scale of the program.
The move comes as ADNOC Gas maintains a growth strategy that includes approximately $28 billion in investment between 2026 and 2030. Even in an environment marked by regional disruptions and difficulties affecting maritime transportation through the Strait of Hormuz, the company continues to advance projects aimed at increasing gas processing capacity and maximizing the value of its gas resources.
Rich Gas Development adds $8.2 billion in new contracts
The second phase of Rich Gas Development includes an EPC contract worth approximately $3.9 billion awarded to Wison Engineering. The scope includes a new natural gas processing unit at the Habshan complex.
The addition of this capacity will enable higher volumes to be processed at one of ADNOC’s main gas hubs. The project forms part of a strategy aimed at harnessing new gas sources and reducing constraints within the processing infrastructure.
Phase 3, meanwhile, represents an investment of approximately $4.3 billion and will be carried out by Tecnimont, part of Italy’s MAIRE Group. Its main component will be a new NGL fractionation unit at Ruwais.
This facility will perform a different but complementary role to Habshan: increasing the recovery of higher-value liquids contained in natural gas streams and expanding their availability for export. Reuters confirmed both the contract awards and the respective developments planned at Habshan and Ruwais.
The combination of both phases helps explain why RGD goes beyond a conventional capacity expansion. ADNOC Gas is addressing different stages of its value chain to capture a greater share of the economic value contained in its gas resources.
Habshan and Ruwais strengthen the gas value chain
The significance of Rich Gas Development lies precisely in connecting new gas availability with infrastructure capable of processing it and separating higher-value products.
Habshan operates as one of ADNOC Gas’s main processing hubs, while Ruwais concentrates industrial infrastructure associated with fractionation, refining, petrochemicals, and exports.
Developing new capacity at both locations means that growth does not depend solely on having greater volumes of gas available from upstream operations. It also requires facilities capable of processing those streams and recovering marketable components such as NGLs.
ADNOC Gas had already identified RGD as a central component of its transformation. In its 2025 Integrated Report, the company stated that the project would help unlock new resources and expand processing infrastructure. The first final investment decision was made in June 2025, when contracts for the initial phase were awarded.
The newly approved phases now expand that strategy and bring the program’s total commitment to $13.2 billion.
ADNOC Gas maintains expansion despite regional disruptions
The decision takes on greater significance given the timing. ADNOC Gas reported net income of $665 million for the second quarter of 2026, a 52% decline compared with the same period a year earlier. However, the result exceeded the company’s own guidance range of $400 million to $600 million.
Operations have been affected by disruptions related to the Strait of Hormuz and by security incidents that previously impacted the Habshan complex. ADNOC Gas financial documentation had indicated that part of its processing capacity remained out of service following the incidents that occurred in April.
Despite this environment, the investment strategy continues. ADNOC Gas plans to allocate approximately $28 billion between 2026 and 2030 to its growth portfolio. RGD shares this investment horizon with other strategic developments linked to gas and LNG infrastructure.
The company also raised its 2030 EBITDA growth target to 60% compared with 2023 levels, up from a previous target of more than 40%, according to information released alongside the new contract awards.
Rich Gas Development increases the value of every molecule processed
The next challenge will be to translate investment decisions and EPC contracts into effective operational capacity.
The addition of a new unit at Habshan will expand processing capacity, while the new fractionation train at Ruwais will seek to recover a greater proportion of high-value liquid products. This complementary approach makes RGD an investment focused both on increasing volumes and maximizing the value of gas.
For ADNOC Gas, the expansion also strengthens an integrated value chain connecting production, processing, NGLs, the domestic market, and exports.
With $13.2 billion already committed to Rich Gas Development and an investment program of approximately $28 billion through 2030, the new contract awards show that the company is maintaining its growth strategy even amid a more complex regional environment.
Progress on phases 2 and 3 will now determine how much of that investment can be translated into new processing capacity and higher volumes of value-added products within the United Arab Emirates’ gas infrastructure.
Sources: World Oil