JBIC Signs MOU with ADNOC
Supporting Acquisition of New Concessions and Renewal of Existing Concessions involving Japanese Oil Companies

• Region: The Middle East
• Energy and Natural Resources

1. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC; Governor, CEO: Hiroshi Watanabe) signed on November 9 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Yosuke Takagi, Japan's State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and His Excellency Eng. Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Energy. This MOU is aimed at further strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between Japan and ADNOC.
    
2. ADNOC, a state-run oil company wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi government, conducts oil and gas business in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which produces most of the oil and gas in the UAE. JBIC has signed with ADNOC a succession of MOUs in the oil and gas sector,^*1 as well as MOUs in the environmental sector,^*2 and this MOU is intended to further expand and develop such a cooperative agreement in the oil and gas sector. Above all, it allowed both parties to mutually recognize that the granting of new concessions to and the renewal of existing concessions involving Japanese entities are significant objectives of the JBIC mandate.
    
3. In the "Basic Energy Plan," decided by the cabinet on June 18, 2010, Japan set forth the target of increasing its self-development ratio^*3 of oil and natural gas to 40% or more by 2030. A report by the "Natural Resources and Fuel Committee of the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy"(July 2015) also stressed the importance of maintaining this target, as well as of continuing the efforts to strengthen relations with Middle Eastern countries to secure a stable supply of crude oil from the region, which possesses large reserves and production volume. Under such circumstances, the UAE is vital to Japan's resource strategy as it has been a stable source of quality crude oil for more than 30 years, and because the UAE allows the entry of foreign oil companies to operate on the basis of concession agreements. The signing of the MOU will contribute to strengthening the bilateral ties between Japan and the resource-rich country positioned as strategically important to Japan, and is also in line with the Japanese government's energy and environment policy.
    
4. As Japan's policy-based financial institution, JBIC will continue to support the securing of a stable supply of energy resources to Japan by further strengthening its ties with ADNOC through the signing of this MOU.

Note

1. *1 See Press Release on May 1, 2007, Press Release on November 4, 2010, and Press Release on December 11, 2012.
2. *2 See Press Release on April 28, 2014.
3. *3 The self-development ratio is the proportion of oil and natural gas purchased from those granted to Japanese entities, to the total sum of imported and domestically produced oil and natural gas.