Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has announced strategic equity partnerships and a new joint trading venture with Eni and OMV, giving the former 20% and latter 15% stake in the company which is valued at $19.3 billion.

Adnoc will retain the 65% stake in the company for now, but could be ‘open to selling another 5 to 10% of its shares in another competitive bidding process’, Bloomberg TV reported as Adnoc’s CEO, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, saying.

The signing of the agreements was witnessed by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces; Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy; and Hartwig Löger, Austria’s Federal Minister of Finance. The agreement was signed by CEOs of the three companies.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO said: “We are delighted to partner with Eni and OMV in our refining business and the new trading company. Such partnerships follow our leadership’s wise guidance to unlock and drive greater value across our business.”

“These innovative partnerships will support our ambition of becoming an international downstream leader with the flexibility to respond quickly to shifting market needs and dynamics. They will help enable our objective of unlocking even more value from every barrel of oil we produce.”

“Working closely with our partners, we will also deliver further efficiencies across our operations and improve asset and business performance,” he said.

A statement from Adnoc mentioned that, supported by Adnoc’s high cash flow generation capacity, the three partners have committed to substantial growth plans for short to mid-term. They have also agreed to a comprehensive capital allocation framework to achieve self-funded growth, paired with an attractive dividend policy.

“These agreements consolidate our strong partnership with ADNOC,” said Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni. “This transaction, which allows us to enter the United Arab Emirates’ downstream sector and represents a 35% increase in Eni’s global refining capacity, is in line with our announced strategy.”

Dr Rainer Seele, Chairman of the OMV Executive Board and CEO, who had similar views about the partnership, said: “I am pleased to further build on our strategic partnership with ADNOC and Abu Dhabi.”

“We are confident that our extensive operational refining know-how and trading experience will contribute to sustainable value creation and profitable growth.”

Adnoc’s statement further said that Eni and OMV will provide that know-how, operational experience and support to accelerate the development of the trading joint venture, which will enable Adnoc and its partners to optimise their systems and better manage international product flows.