Predictions 2016: ENOC group CEO Saif Al Falasi

Cyclicality’ is not a new phrase in the oil and gas industry. Yet, the sharp fall in commodity prices in 2015 combined with the geopolitics of market share sustenance proved challenging for the industry globally, creating transformational disruption across the entire value chain.

As a result, global industry reactions were largely defensive in nature with responses ranging from the use of financial instruments to the rationalisation of operating portfolios. Furthermore, there is a significant industry-wide push towards optimisation, enhancing operational efficiency and integrating energy and resource management into business planning. These are all measures designed to protect the bottom line and maximise free cash flow.

National oil companies are at the heart of this transformation. They are undergoing profound change. This has also created opportunities. Whether Middle Eastern or Latin American, net importing or exporting, upstream or downstream players – they have become externally facing and internationalised. For ENOC, 2015 proved to be a year of notable milestones.

The Ministry of Energy’s decision to deregulate fuel prices freed up capital for national oil companies. Our sector is fairly capital-intensive. We need to continually invest in our projects to sustain growth and enhance service offerings. De-subsidising fuel prices allows us to focus further on regional retail expansion and on investing in sustainable green initiatives. A decision of such magnitude has undoubtedly made other governments in the region sit up and take notice.

The constantly evolving landscape of our industry has been a change agent for us.

We play a critical role in the development of Dubai. We facilitate the expansion of automotive, aviation and hospitality segments. All of which contribute to the socioeconomic growth of the emirate and the United Arab Emirates as a whole. In addition to our core focus of supporting Dubai, we have also taken advantage of market conditions and grown our international footprint by expanding our operations in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

This is reflected in our numbers. We recorded significant and consistent growth, which has doubled the company’s revenue to more than $20bn over the last five years.

For 2014, the annual volume of fuel products, sold and traded increased by 21 per cent. Meanwhile, revenue from non-fuel sales grew by 7 per cent.

The completion of the 58km Project Falcon jet fuel pipeline and acquisition of Dragon Oil are examples of our achievements this year and are aligned with our strategic direction to expand our operations.

Looking forward, we intend to build upon our successes by expanding our regional and international footprint. The focus will be to continue diversifying our revenue streams by investing in operations that are well positioned to generate sustainable growth. We intend to achieve this by strategically positioning ourselves and our portfolio, and by attracting the retaining the right talent.

In this, our people and stakeholders will continue to be the key priority.