The Emirati oil boss banking billions on U.S. energy

Al Jaber is bullish about the U.S., which teems with fossil fuels, low-carbon energy, and big tech firms with AI ambitions

- Christopher M. Matthews & Benoit Morenne

Standing in one of Abu Dhabi's ornate palaces last month, the oil boss Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber presented President Trump with a gift: a single drop of oil from the emirate's Murban Bab oil field. "The highest-quality oil there is on the planet, and they only gave me a drop," Trump joked at the time. "So I'm not thrilled."

If Al Jaber's ambitions are realized, the chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., Abu Dhabi's state-owned oil company, will soon have far greater offerings for Trump.

XRG, the company's international investment arm, plans to deploy billions of dollars in the U.S. It is part of the United Arab Emirates' goal to boost the value of its energy investments there to $440 billion over the next decade—about $50 billion less than Exxon Mobil's market capitalization. It aims to take stakes in U.S. oil and gas fields and chemical and gas export plants as well as power projects to support the development of artificial intelligence. Those aspirations position XRG to become one of the largest foreign investors in U.S. energy.

During Trump's visit to Abu Dhabi, Al Jaber briefed the president on the plans as the pair stood before a giant screen emblazoned with the phrase "Making Energy Great Again." Trump, who has aggressively courted foreign investment, was thrilled, said people familiar with the matter.

The investment plan puts Al Jaber at the center of the relationship between the U.S. and the U.A.E., one of Washington's closest allies in the region based on their longstanding trade and security ties. Adnoc, once a middling player on the international stage, has emerged as one of the world's most ambitious and well-funded energy companies under his stewardship.