Abu Dhabi – the oil powerhouse at the centre of the U.S.’s pushback against increasing Chinese influence across the Middle East – last week further cemented this alliance with a dramatic re-organisation of its government to further empower its oil sector, and the awarding of further oil concessions to U.S.-friendly firms. Both of these developments were in line with plans to boost the crude oil production of the chief corporate proxy in this U.S.-Israel strategy – the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) – from around the current 4 million barrels per day (bpd) to at least 5 million bpd by 2030 at the latest, and to increase its gas output as well. For a long time a huge hurdle for Abu Dhabi’s plans to dramatically increase oil revenues has been the reticence of various members of its Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) to endorse any proposals regarded as not […]