United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan approved a board of directors for XRG, state oil giant ADNOC's new international investment arm, including Blackstone's Jon Gray and former BP boss Bernard Looney, ADNOC said on Thursday.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company announced last month it was setting up XRG, saying it was worth over $80 billion and would focus on lower-carbon energy, including gas, and chemicals.
Sultan Al Jaber, ADNOC's chief executive, was appointed XRG's executive chairman.
Along with Gray and Looney, the board also included Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris, UAE Investment Minister and CEO of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Chairman of the UAE president's office for strategic affairs Ahmed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, and Jasem Al Zaabi, chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Finance and telecoms conglomerate e&.
ADNOC has done a string of deals in gas, LNG and chemicals, which it considers pillars for its future growth alongside renewables. UAE state-owned renewables firm Masdar, in which ADNOC has a 24% stake, has also made several acquisitions.
ADNOC struck a deal in October to buy German chemicals maker Covestro for $16.3 billion, including debt. Covestro last month said its management and supervisory boards supported the takeover offer, which will be one of the largest foreign acquisitions by a Gulf state and ADNOC's largest.
The appointment of celebrity names from the world of finance and energy to XRG's board signals its grand ambitions, as ADNOC pursues its aggressive growth strategy.
Reuters reported in April that ADNOC recently considered buying BP but the deliberations did not progress beyond preliminary discussions.
The oil giant is also in talks for other foreign deals, including with Austria's OMV over the merger of chemical firms Borouge and Borealis.
