In this week’s edition of Let’s Talk Energy, Bill Lambert, Senior Director for Business Development in the Americas at XRG, joins Noah to explain how ADNOC’s international investment arm is building a gas portfolio across North and South America, with Appalachia, the Permian, Argentina, and Venezuela all in view. He also discusses why a 20 to 40-year horizon helps XRG ride out price volatility. Stream the full episode now: Inside Abu Dhabi’s multi-billion dollar bet on gas in the Americas, with XRG’s Bill Lambert

NB: For those who aren't familiar with XRG, what is it, and how does the business fit together? 

Bill Lambert (BL): "XRG was started in 2024 as the international investment vehicle for ADNOC, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. It's about $150 billion dollar enterprise value today. So it's a really substantial global footprint, and we have three verticals. We have a international gas vertical, we have a petchems vertical, and we have an energy solutions vertical. All three of those work hand in hand. Obviously, the gas business is looking at things from the subsurface all the way through LNG. Energy solutions augments a lot of the things around the gas market, and then the petchems business - there's an embedded [natural gas liquids] NGL opportunity within the feedstocks for them and the outputs that we have, to where we can create a really integrated global business." 

NB: Does all these different assets necessarily need to be physically connected to be attractive to XRG, or would you buy somewhere like the Marcellus shale that's landlocked? 

BL: "The reality is we want to build a very scaled business in North America, and so there are going to be opportunities within that where we will have the ability to have upstream go directly into pipe. The reality, as we all know, in the gas market, once gas is in a pipe, it gets commingled. It's going to probably move around, and so there's a physical connectivity, and then there's a financial connectivity. And from a financial perspective, we want to capture that integrated margin. Places like Appalachia, when you just look at the depth of resource, that's a place that, long term, I think we'd love to wake up and be in. As we think about developing a North American strategy, you look at the depth of that resource and think about what all is going on. Whether you're in Northeast [Pennsylvania] PA or Southwest Appalachia or anywhere in between, it is one of the best resources globally that's out there." 

NB: How do you approach dealmaking in a market where commodity prices are so volatile? 

BL: "Volatility has been part of the energy markets for my entire career. It's come in different ways at different times. You've had moments of contango. You've had moments of steep backwardation, you've had all sorts of volatility. We have seen that the gas market has been relatively more stable as far as Henry Hub pricing over this most recent period. I think a lot of that is a function of when you look at the producers across North America and their ability to consistently deliver molecule, and to do that and return capital to shareholders to generate the competitive returns they need to, there's a lot of people out there who are doing a really good job. And so when we think about it, we say, how are we going to look at the situation and take a 20, 30, 40-year view on the value of opportunities and reflect that. To look at things and say we are a very long-term focused buyer, and I think that affords you to incorporate some of the long-term growth and manage through moments of volatility." 

NB: Much of the future growth in US gas production is going to come via associated gas from the Permian Basin. I know XRG is focused on gas but would you invest in assets that produce more liquids like the Permian? 

BL: "XRG is a very unique vehicle in the market. I really do believe we are kind of a one of one when it comes to how we can approach things. We have duration. We have the ability to look at dry gas. We can look at wet gas because we have that chemicals business and the integration there. We have a margin opportunity regardless of where we are in the phase windows, and I think that's one of the things that will give us opportunity as we look at places like the Permian. You see the continued growth of pipe out of the basin. I have seen the portfolios of some companies - the portfolio at Devon. You look at the combined Devon today and the amount of gas that they have in the Delaware Basin alongside all that oil. That's a really incredible business, and so you think about is the Permian associated gas story going to be here to stay? Yes, I believe it's here to stay. I think it is a material part of the gas business." 

NB: You've got a mandate across North and South America — how do you think about balancing capital allocation across the region? 

BL: "It's kind of a portfolio effect. The US is critical to our global strategy. That being said, we want a portfolio. You referenced Argentina and Venezuela; those are places we're really excited to grow with our partners. I think there's tremendous resource there as well as we look at Canada. You've heard today at the symposium, Canada is a hot topic. I think there's a lot of people looking up there, a lot of great resource. As you see the continued evolution of the basins up there. There's going to be opportunities there. We'll look for those and look to deploy in those as well." 

NB: If we had this conversation again in ten years, what would the XRG portfolio in the Americas look like? 

BL: "The first time I ever went through the UAE was back in 2003, and it was when I was taking my first job with Schlumberger. I went through Dubai on the way there, and to have seen the growth that has happened in the UAE, in Abu Dhabi specifically, over that period of time. This is a country and a company within ADNOC - when they decided to create XRG, they created tremendous ambitions, and the reality is they're on their way to realizing them. Hopefully in five or 10 years when we wake up, you will have seen some of the projects that have been announced today, fully up and really demonstrating the capabilities, and you'll see projects that follow behind it to where it's just a very global business that can deliver energy both locally and internationally." 

Stream the full episode now: Inside Abu Dhabi’s multi-billion dollar bet on gas in the Americas, with XRG’s Bill Lambert