Demand for energy, including new grids and data centres, will require up to $4 trillion in investment, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Adnoc’s managing director and group chief executive, told an energy conference on Monday.

“We need massive capital investment. We are talking about more than $4 trillion annually to cover grids, data centres and all sources of energy supply,” Dr Al Jaber said in his opening address to the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec).

The growth of AI and data centres requires a higher demand for gas and infrastructure outlay. “Gas provides more than a quarter of the baseload power required by data centres and a shortage of gas turbines is turning a supply crunch into a choke point that is pushing electricity prices higher,” said Dr Al Jaber, who is also the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.

He highlighted the need for infrastructure to support artificial intelligence and data centre development. “We need at least six million kilometres of new transmission lines by 2050. You simply can’t run tomorrow’s economy on yesterday’s grid,” he said.

AI is increasingly common in the energy industry, with one in five companies now using agentic AI in their operations, a recent Adnoc-Microsoft report found. Agentic AI has a high degree of autonomy that makes decisions on complex decisions in specific projects or across different functions.

About 88 per cent of executives believe AI has a positive effect on energy and their relationship is now “symbiotic”, the report added.

In his opening comments, Dr Al Jaber said Adnoc was focused on becoming the most “AI native energy company”.

On Sunday, Adnoc and Microsoft signed a deal to develop AI agents to be used across its various functions. AI agents can allow for automation of processes such as production, maintenance, monitoring and data analysis. They reduce the risks of human error because the AI agents automate routine and complex tasks on their own.

Adnoc also signed three deals with US-based Gecko Robotics to use robotics and AI across its operations. The agreements are to explore the use of robotics and AI across the major oil company’s operations to boost efficiency and train UAE citizens.

The agreements cover a multi-year technology roll-out for Adnoc Gas, joint training programmes with the Adnoc Technical Academy and the introduction of robotics and AI-powered analytics across Adnoc’s assets to reduce downtime and support data-driven maintenance, the Abu Dhabi-based company said on Sunday.

Results

2pm Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,800m

Winner AF Al Baher, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).

2.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh75,000 1,400m

Winner Alla Mahlak, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly.

3pm Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 1,400m

Winner Davy Lamp, Adrie de Vries, Rashed Bouresly.

3.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 1,400m

Winner Ode To Autumn, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

4pm Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 1,950m

Winner Arch Gold, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

4.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh75,000 1,800m

Winner Meqdam, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

5pm Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,800m

Winner Native Appeal, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.

5.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh75,000 1,400m

Winner Amani Pico, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar

Can NRIs vote in the election?

Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad

Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency

There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas

Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas

A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians

Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.

This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India

A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians

However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed

The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas

Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online

The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online

The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation

More coverage from the Future Forum