From humble beginnings came great things: How ADIPEC grew to become the world's largest energy event
In 1984, ADIPEC’s journey began at Abu Dhabi’s InterContinental Hotel. Abdulmunim Saif Al Kindy, the chairman of ADIPEC 2025, was there and recalls more than four decades of extraordinary growth, as Tayba Abdulrahim Al Hashmi, chairperson from 2021-2024, discusses the scale up of technology and AI
Abu Dhabi, UAE – October 31, 2025: “Humble beginnings”, recalls Abdulmunim Saif Al Kindy with a smile as he casts his mind’s eye back to the very first ADIPEC in 1984.
“It was at the InterContinental Hotel, just down from Abu Dhabi Corniche,” the 2025 chairman of ADIPEC adds of the inaugural conference held from May 22-24 more than four decades ago. “I remember going down two floors in the lift and we had the meeting rooms there. The focus was on sharing SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) papers amongst young UAE nationals.”
Attending as a young employee of ADCO (which became ADNOC Onshore), Abdulmunim, who will have been at ADNOC for 50 years come November, viewed the first ADIPEC as an “invaluable learning platform”.
“Here I had an expert on a subject actually coming in to present – which I saw as something that broke barriers between organizations,” Abdulmunim says. “And that’s the same today.”
From humble beginnings came great things.
Whereas the number of attendees at the first ADIPEC were “probably a maximum of 1,000 or 2,000 people – I would be very surprised if there more”, 2025 is expected to see more than 200,000 attendees and 2,250 companies. They will come from across the globe – 172 countries to be exact – to hear some 1,800 speakers at ADNEC between November 3-6. Under the theme ‘Energy. Intelligence. Impact.’, the event will highlight how today’s energy systems must be secured while investing in lower-carbon solutions and intelligent technologies that accelerate global progress.
“The growth of ADIPEC to become the largest energy event in the world has been extraordinary,” says Abdulmunim. “Both the conference and the technical submission of papers have grown substantially; the technical part of ADIPEC has grown to the extent that we’re getting more than 7,000 submissions.”
Beyond that, he adds, is who attends ADIPEC.
“I get calls from the CEOs of international oil companies, and I get calls from ministers from all over the world wanting to be there on day one,” says Abdulmunim.
For other global conferences, Abdulmunim – who was also the chairman of ADIPEC in 2010 – adds, high-level dignitaries may not be as eager to attend.
“If they are told ‘I would like you to come to this conference’, they say ‘Okay, who's attending? Where am I?’ … But at ADIPEC? ‘Sure, I just want a seat’,” Abdulmunim says.
“How did we get to this?” he adds. “Because simply, everybody sees ADIPEC as a platform where, if they say something, it'll reverberate all around the world.”
This year’s ADIPEC builds on the success of the past few years, when Tayba Abdulrahim Al Hashmi was chairperson from 2021-2024. Not only was the 2021 ADIPEC the first after COVID, “it focussed on broadening its reach beyond the traditional energy sector – welcoming policymakers, government entities, and a wider range of industries and sectors,” says Tayba.
“In particular, we increased our engagement with technology enablers and research and development organizations from around the world,” the ADNOC Offshore CEO adds.
“Today, ADIPEC isn’t just oil and gas, it is a global conference uniting energy, technology, industry, manufacturing, health and safety, and more. Last year, we introduced the first AI Zone, which was a huge success.”
Tayba adds that ADIPEC, which became an annual event in 2013 after previously being held biennially, is “all-encompassing”. “It’s a conference for everyone involved in energy,” she says. “From ministers to industry leaders, academics to start ups, and future generations. There’s a place for everyone shaping the future of energy – not just in the UAE, but globally.”
For Abdulmunim, while so much has changed in what ADIPEC highlights, the consistent factor is that it has “always been right up to date to present the technology or issues of the day.”
“If you look at what we were seeing in 1984, then that was pneumatic valves for instance,” Abdulmunim says. “Now, I don't think there's a single installation today that has pneumatic valves. But fast forward, it was hydraulic; fast forward again and it was digital; and now fast forward to AI. It’s the present and the future right at your doorstep – and that’s what ADIPEC is.”
Another measure of ADIPEC’s remarkable growth, Abdulmunim recalls, is that in its early years at the InterContinental, some were concerned that the venue might be too big. Those thoughts were quickly dispelled.
“Could I project this growth over the years?” he questions. “No. Am I happy? Extremely happy. Do I see future growth? Yes, because if I am to draw a slope, I can only see incremental growth – and that means bigger numbers coming to ADIPEC.
“How has this happened? The contributions of all ADNOC and group companies’ management has been instrumental in building ADIPEC to what it is. The work of all those who have gone before us is reflected in the growth from 2,000 people in 1984 to over 200,000 people today.”