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Sharjah National Oil Corporation announced on October 20, 2026 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Equinor ASA to assess potential cooperation across the downstream energy sector. The pact covers storage, infrastructure, logistics, trading, supply and shipping of liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas liquids and other oil and gas products in addition to selected energy transition opportunities. According to the SNOC statement, the companies will also examine ways to optimise petrochemical storage facilities in the UAE as part of efforts to strengthen energy security and support economic growth. The corporation’s Sajaa gas processing plant currently handles up to 700 million standard cubic feet per day while its underground storage assets and Hamriyah port facilities form key elements of Sharjah’s energy network, SNOC operational data show.
Khamis Al Mazrouei, CEO of SNOC, said in the announcement, “We are delighted to partner with Equinor, a company globally recognised for its expertise and long-standing track record of excellence.” Al Mazrouei added that the collaboration marks a significant step for SNOC by providing a platform to pursue practical, value-driven opportunities across the gas liquids value chain. The executive noted that the partnership aims to enhance energy security, optimise infrastructure use and support continued development of the LPG sector in the country. Alex Grant, Equinor’s senior vice president for crude, products and liquids trading, stated in the same announcement that building a partnership around SNOC’s infrastructure position and Equinor’s equity volumes, trading, logistics and global market access would allow both companies to deliver value-driven solutions.
SNOC has operated as the custodian of Sharjah’s oil and gas resources since 2010 and maintains more than 500 kilometres of pipeline networks alongside two condensate stations, according to the corporation’s midstream overview. The entity also runs underground gas storage at the Moweid field, converted from a 1982 discovery, to balance seasonal and daily demand in the emirate. These assets position SNOC to integrate new downstream collaborations effectively while its recent 60-megawatt Sana solar plant at the Sajaa complex has already cut the company’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions by an estimated 20 percent, SNOC ESG reporting indicates.
Equinor, headquartered in Norway, maintains substantial equity production in oil and gas while advancing its own energy transition portfolio, company filings show. The Norwegian firm has secured regulatory approvals for Starlink-related services in several Gulf states and continues to expand its trading and logistics footprint in the Middle East. Under the new MoU with SNOC, the partnership will focus on commercially attractive projects that align with the UAE’s broader infrastructure development objectives, the joint statement said.
The agreement arrives as Gulf gas sector contract awards rose 60 percent in the third quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, Kamco research group data indicate. SNOC has pursued multiple technology and transition partnerships in recent months, including an SAP RISE implementation for digital transformation completed in December 2025 and a natural hydrogen feasibility study with Siemens Energy and Decahydron launched earlier that year, according to the corporation’s news archive. These initiatives form part of SNOC’s strategy to balance conventional gas operations with lower-carbon solutions while maintaining reliable supply to Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority.
SNOC’s trading arm markets gas, condensate and LPG both locally and for export, balancing supply and demand to reinforce Sharjah’s role as a regional energy hub, the corporation’s corporate overview states. The latest MoU with Equinor builds on this foundation by targeting improvements throughout the downstream value chain and could open avenues for enhanced petrochemical handling capacity. Officials from both organisations expect initial assessments under the agreement to identify specific projects within the coming months.
