By: OrePulse

The disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has drawn down nearly one billion barrels from global oil inventories, the chief executive of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said on November 2, 2026, calling for a broad rethink of how energy security is measured.

Speaking at the opening of the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, ADNOC's managing director and group chief executive and the UAE's minister of industry and advanced technology, said the world has been drawing down its supply buffers and that securing production is no longer sufficient on its own. "Simply put, the world has eroded its supply buffers," he said. "But, trust me, supply is only half the story. The other half is delivery."

Al Jaber said logistics and shipping costs tied to moving oil to market have climbed from under five percent of the cost of a barrel to more than thirty percent. He said diesel stocks in some markets are at their lowest seasonal levels in thirty-five years, and that some markets face a gap of 600 billion cubic feet in liquefied natural gas supply. "Energy security is not only measured at the point of production. It is now also measured at the point of delivery," he said.

He set out five priorities for strengthening energy security: accessible supply, routes to market, operational intelligence, investment confidence and people. "For years, our industry optimised for just in time," he said. "And to tell you the truth, we got very good at it. This year we got the bill for just in case." On investment, he said: "Capital follows confidence. Policy must create it…finance must accelerate it…and insurance must keep trade moving." He described the approach taken in the UAE as "pressure-tested and proven by results."

ADNOC also announced at the conference an agreement with OpenAI and the technology group G42 under which ADNOC said it would become the first energy company to deploy OpenAI's Frontier system, for use in field development, well management and commercial operations. Al Jaber addressed OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, who attended the opening ceremony, saying: "Sam, from the moment ChatGPT was born, the world has asked what energy can do for AI. And now, together, we will find out what AI can do for energy."

ADIPEC, one of the energy industry's largest annual gatherings, draws executives, officials and policymakers from across the oil, gas and broader energy sector to Abu Dhabi each year.

Al Jaber's remarks on the Hormuz-linked drawdown in inventories were delivered as part of his opening address at this year's conference, in which he set out ADNOC's view of how energy security should be defined and measured going forward.

The announcement of the OpenAI and G42 partnership was made separately during the same opening session, with ADNOC describing it as guided at a senior government level in Abu Dhabi. ADNOC said the Frontier deployment would be used across field development, well management and commercial operations.