ABU DHABI—The four-day Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) kicked off Monday, Nov. 11, hosting more than 145,000 trade visitors from over 135 countries.

Addressing a packed audience in his opening keynote address, Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) said, “Our industry is being disrupted on multiple levels—by new technology, new businesses, operating models, new forms of energy and a new geopolitical order. This year of disruption is just beginning and will only gather base.”

He added that oil and gas companies can succeed amid disruption if they operate at low-cost and high-efficiency, incorporate digitalization in their core operations, adopt sustainability, leverage partnerships and re-center their customer relationships.

Referring to ADIPEC’s mission Oil and Gas 4.0, which was launched last year, Al Jaber said if all companies adopt the mission to modernize, the industry will remain an essential pillar of the future diversified energy mix.

By 2040, all the energy currently consumed in the U.S., India and Japan will be added to the global energy demand, he said. And in even the most fast-paced transition scenarios, oil and gas will still provide the source for over half of it.

“These facts are undisputed and simply make a compelling business case to invest in the future of our industry,” Al-Jaber said.

He explained how ADNOC, in response to the shift of economic power from West to East, is deepening its partnerships globally and pivoting toward Asia where energy demand is growing fastest. He added that ADNOC is on track to expand the oil production to 4 MMbbl/d by the end of 2020 and is finding new reserves of natural gas as it gets closer to achieving gas self-sufficiency for the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“New discoveries this year include over 7 billion barrels in oil reserves, 58 trillion cubic feet of conventional gas and significantly over 160 trillion cubic feet of unconventional gas. As a result, UAE has moved up from seventh to sixth place in the ranking of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world,” Al Jaber said.

He pointed out an earlier announcement that the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) will set up a new futures exchange in Abu Dhabi to host the world’s first futures contract based on ADNOC’s Murban crude oil. Al Jaber expressed delight that ADNOC will join major international oil companies as founding partners of the new exchange known as ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD).

“Leveraging UAE’s position at the pivot point of growth economies, IFAD will be home to the Murban Futures Contract. Crucially, this contract will replace retroactive pricing with forward pricing. It will allow buyers to hedge their risk in the open market, and it will help capture more value from every barrel we produce,” Al Jaber said.

He added that it represents a “bold step and a historic milestone” that offers ADNOC’s partners and customers significant benefits and, consequently, places the UAE at the geographic center of global crude trading.

Al Jaber also stressed that technology is the key to unlocking how to deliver more energy with fewer emissions, one of the central challenges facing the oil and gas industry.

“As our industry embraces an age of disruption, digitization and artificial intelligence are the next frontiers to driving efficiencies, curbing costs and extracting the highest value from every molecule of hydrocarbon produced,” Al Jaber said. He highlighted ADNOC’s efforts in carbon capture and storage, and the usage of drones in monitoring fugitive emissions.

Al Jaber also pointed out that one of ADNOC’s most important tasks is attracting and developing the best talent.

“A diverse workforce is a key enabler of business success and ensures we are an industry of the future, not of the past. Ultimately, our ability to appeal to the next generation will be determined by how well we communicate why we exist. In other words, our defining purpose as an essential driver of economic development,” he said.