Sultan al-Jaber has been appoint as the new director-general of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), replacing Abdullah al-Suwaidi who had led the firm since 2011.

Al-Jaber is also the chairman of state-owned renewable energy group Masdar, CEO of energy at investment group Mubadala and chairman of Abu Dhabi Ports Company

He was appointed as a minister of state in the UAE cabinet in March 2013 and is the special envoy for energy and climate change for the country.

Al-Jaber takes over at Adnoc at a challenging time, as the state oil and gas producer reacts to the collapse in global crude prices.

Adnoc is aiming to increase its crude production capacity to 3.5 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2017-18 from a current level of about 3 million b/d.

Previous director-general Al-Suwaidi oversaw the renewal of Abu Dhabi’s onshore oil field concession, which is responsible for more than half of UAE crude production.

However, the new joint venture is yet to be completed over two years after the expiry of the previous Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco). Adnoc has only awarded 15 per cent of the new concession to overseas oil companies out of a planned 40 per cent.

Al-Jaber must oversee negotiations to bring additional companies into the fold.

“Al-Jaber has rich experience in the energy sector, including the development of oil and gas assets, and the petrochemical industry, power generation and water desalination,” his profile on the UAE government website reads.

“He is known for his sophisticated skills in political and trade negotiations, as well as his experience in the fields of technology and infrastructure,” it adds.

Adnoc and Masdar, now both under the leadership of Al-Jaber, have been working together on Abu Dhabi’s first carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) project in Abu Dhabi.

The project will have the capacity to capture 800,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of carbon dioxide from Emirates Steel’s operations in Abu Dhabi and inject the gas into the onshore Rumaitha oil field to aid oil recovery.