ADIPEC 2026: The Complete Guide to Dates, Passes, Halls & What to Expect

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Quick Answer: When is ADIPEC 2026, and how do you get in?

ADIPEC 2026 runs Monday 2 to Thursday 5 November 2026 at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi. The exhibition is open 10:00-18:30 Monday to Wednesday and 10:00-17:30 on Thursday, UAE time (GST, UTC+4). ADIPEC bills itself as the world's largest energy exhibition, and the numbers back up the scale: the 2025 edition drew a record 239,709 attendees from 172 countries, and ADIPEC reports 2,250+ exhibiting companies for 2026.

You get in by registering online as a visitor. A visitor pass costs US$60 now and US$120 during show days, so register before 2 November. Your print-at-home badge arrives by email about a week before the show. The visitor pass covers every exhibition hall and zone but not the conference sessions, which need a delegate pass: US$2,030 for the Technical Pass or US$7,250 for All Access.

Three things catch people out. General visitor admission is restricted to people aged 18 and over, and there are no childcare facilities (Young ADIPEC's school and student programs run separately). The free hotel shuttles only run towards the venue in the morning (06:00-12:00 on Monday, 08:00-12:00 Tuesday to Thursday) and back to hotels from 16:00 to 19:00, so a midday arrival means park-and-ride or a taxi. And Thursday closes an hour earlier, at 17:30.

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1. What ADIPEC Is, and Who It's For

ADIPEC was originally short for the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, but the organizer now generally uses ADIPEC as the event's standalone name. It is hosted by ADNOC, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and organized by the events company dmg events.

The original name says "petroleum", but the show has grown well beyond it. The 2026 conference has programs on grids, clean power, carbon management, AI and workforce skills, alongside upstream, LNG and downstream. The exhibition has four dedicated zones for AI, digitalization, low-carbon fuels and chemicals, and maritime logistics (section 5).

The audience reflects that breadth. ADIPEC's visitor page lists ministers and C-suite executives from national oil companies, international oil companies and governments; finance executives and investors; engineers, project developers and manufacturers; procurement and logistics teams; and technology and sustainability firms. ADIPEC says around 95 percent of attendees are decision-makers, purchasers or influencers. That is an organizer-reported figure, but it tells you who the show is built for: people who buy, fund or approve energy projects, and the suppliers who want to meet them.

How big it is

Three things to read from that table:

1. The "239,000+" on ADIPEC's 2026 materials is essentially the 2025 result, repeated as the expected scale. Lower figures such as 160,000, which still circulate online, are out of date.
2. The show has grown fast. Attendance rose by more than 20,000 from 2023 to 2024, then by 17 percent to 2025.
3. Deal totals are organizer-reported. ADIPEC's 2025 closing release put the total at US$46 billion through 35,000 cross-sector deals, up from more than US$10 billion in 2024. Treat it as a headline claim rather than an audited figure (section 7).

For the structured event listing, see our ADIPEC 2026 show page, and for other shows in the sector, our energy and power trade shows listing. Our H2 2026 trade show outlook covers why ADIPEC is one of the highest-stakes events of the second half of the year.

2. Dates, Hours and the Shape of the Week

The exhibition is open for 33 hours across four days, and Thursday is the short day. Two scheduling points follow from the table:

• Hotel shuttles are a morning-in, evening-out service. If your first meeting is after lunch, you will need park-and-ride or a taxi to get there (section 9).
• Monday's shuttles start at 06:00, two hours earlier than the rest of the week.

ADIPEC has published live agendas for both the Strategic Conference and the Technical Conference, alongside downloadable conference brochures. The Strategic agenda runs day by day and can be filtered by program, theme, format and location. In it, the first Strategic Conference sessions on Monday start at 14:00. Check the live agenda before you book flights or schedule meetings around individual sessions, because timings and speakers may still change.

3. Passes, Prices and Who Can Get In

Prices

Prices are as listed on ADIPEC's FAQ and delegate pricing pages on 14 September 2026, with the delegate passes shown as "standard price". Check the final total at checkout.

The visitor pass doubles in price on show days. Registering before 2 November saves US$60 per person, which is US$300 for a team of five.

How to register

ADIPEC's visitor registration is a four-step online process: start the form, fill in your details and documents, receive a confirmation email, then receive a print-at-home badge closer to the event. ADIPEC's FAQ says the badge is shared about a week before the exhibition. If you need a visa invitation letter, request it on the same registration form (section 9).

Delegates can buy up to five conference passes through the online form. For larger groups, contact delegate@adipec.com. To move from a visitor pass to a delegate pass, ADIPEC offers an upgrade route from its FAQ page.

The rules that trip people up

• General visitor admission is restricted to people aged 18 and over, and there are no childcare facilities at the venue. Young ADIPEC runs its own school and student programs, so schools and younger participants should use the program's own participation routes rather than ordinary visitor registration.
• A visitor pass does not include the conferences. You can walk every hall, but conference sessions need a Technical or All Access delegate pass.
• The Global Energy Club is invitation-only. Membership is free but reserved for senior executives, government representatives and strategic partners, and previous members have to reapply each year. Club membership does not include conference access. Inside the club, meeting rooms and table reservations are for suite holders only, and other members sit on a first-come, first-served basis across the Gold and Platinum lounge levels.
• Media need a separate application. Accredited media get the opening ceremony, all conferences except the technical ones, the press centre and the halls. Rejected applicants are registered as visitors automatically.

4. The 2026 Theme and Conference Program

The theme

ADIPEC 2026 runs under the theme "Performance under pressure: Energy systems in a new era". It is a noticeable shift from 2025's "Energy. Intelligence. Impact." and from the decarbonization-first framing of earlier years. When ADIPEC announced the 2026 dates, it said the new edition would put more emphasis on resilience and energy security. The conference page breaks the theme into five strands:

• Resilient by design: energy security as a source of national and industrial advantage
• From policy to production: aligning policy, regulation and governance to get assets built
• Capital that performs: directing investment towards projects that meet demand growth
• Powering the intelligence age: AI, digitalization and automation in energy systems
• Building capacity for sustained growth: engineering capacity, talent and industrial ecosystems

The 13 programs

ADIPEC expects 380+ sessions, 1,800+ speakers and 16,500+ conference delegates across 13 programs. Six of them are new for 2026:

The Strategic Conference is the ministers, CEOs and investors stage. The Technical Conference is organized with the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and is aimed at engineers and technical specialists. For 2026, ADIPEC advertises 190+ technical sessions led by more than 1,100 technical expert speakers. The 2025 Technical Conference ran 203 sessions with 1,420 speakers.

The technical side is getting bigger. ADIPEC said in June that its 2026 Technical Conferences received a record 7,261 paper submissions. AI & Digital Transformation is now the largest category in the SPE program, with 1,296 submissions (up 11.6 percent), and Digital Transformation & Advanced Manufacturing was the fastest-growing downstream theme, up 58.6 percent to 211 papers. The Technical Pass also includes the ADIPEC Technical Excellence Awards ceremony.

Outside the main programs, ADIPEC runs Leadership Roundtables in the Global Energy Club and AI Leadership Roundtables in the AI Zone. Both bring together ministers and senior executives.

Who is speaking

ADIPEC's list of confirmed speakers, as of 14 September, includes ministers and senior officials from 18 countries: the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Germany, Bulgaria, Türkiye, Serbia, Austria, Cyprus, Romania, Libya, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Senegal and Mali. Markus Söder, Minister-President of Bavaria, is also listed. Named ministers include the UAE's Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Germany's Katherina Reiche and Türkiye's Alparslan Bayraktar.

On the company side, the list includes the chief executives of Shell (Wael Sawan), bp (Meg O'Neill), Eni (Claudio Descalzi), Oxy (Richard Jackson), INPEX and YPF. It also includes the heads of SLB, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Weatherford, KBR, McDermott, Saipem and Tenaris; Siemens, Siemens Energy, Schneider Electric, Honeywell, Hitachi Energy, AVEVA and Cognite; utilities RWE and EnBW; trader Vitol; and US gas producer EQT. Other names include Lord John Browne of BeyondNetZero, Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund and Amos Hochstein of TWG Global. The list is still growing, so check it again before you plan your days around a particular session.

5. How the Venue Is Laid Out: Halls, Zones and Conference Rooms

ADIPEC fills the ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi. ADIPEC's published materials differ on the total number of halls, so use the live venue map to find your way around and the exhibitor list for individual stand positions. The 2026 venue map shows where the zones and conference rooms sit across the main complex, the waterfront halls and the Capital Suites. It is schematic and doesn't show stand positions, but it is enough to plan your walking:

Three practical reads:

1. Halls 15 and 16 are the outliers. They sit across Al Khaleej Al Arabi Street on the waterfront, linked to the main complex by a bridge. If maritime or low-carbon technology is your focus, you will spend a lot of time there, so plan your meetings in blocks rather than crossing back and forth.
2. Strategic and technical sessions are in different parts of the venue. Al Maa'red Hall is at the Aloft end of the complex, while the Capital Suites run along the mezzanine above the main halls. Delegates switching between tracks should allow walking time between sessions.
3. The AI and Digitalisation zones are side by side. If AI and digital are your beat, you can cover both in one visit, along with the AI Leadership Roundtables.

Treat this as orientation, not the official floor plan. For stand positions, use the exhibitor list. ADIPEC also provides a copy of the floor plan on request from sales@adipec.com. The ADIPEC mobile app, which the FAQ says will be released closer to the event, is where exhibitors scan leads.

If maritime is your sector, our SMM 2026 recap covers one of the shipping industry's major international shows, held in Hamburg in September.

6. Who Exhibits

ADIPEC's headline exhibitor number for 2026 is 2,250+ companies, and its most distinctive feature is the presence of 54 NOCs, IOCs, NECs and IECs: national oil companies, international oil companies, and their national and international energy company counterparts.

ADIPEC's 2025 closing release named ADNOC, Aramco, ExxonMobil, CNPC, Oxy, Shell, BP, Chevron, NNPC, Petronas and TotalEnergies among the energy companies taking part. Expect the same core group in 2026, but check the exhibitor list rather than assuming any company is back.

Two other groups are worth knowing about:

• 30 country pavilions. These give national supply chains their own space, and they are often the quickest way to meet several suppliers from one market.
• AI and technology companies. ADIPEC's 2025 release named Mistral AI, IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, Gecko Robotics, AIQ, SandboxAQ and Inclusive Brains among the digital and AI companies at the show. Several technology chief executives are on the 2026 speaker list too (section 4).

For suppliers, ADNOC is the show's central commercial presence. ADNOC and its group companies run through the whole program. ADNOC Drilling, ADNOC Gas, ADNOC Logistics & Services, ADNOC Refining, TA'ZIZ and ADNOC's upstream business all appear on the 2026 speaker list, and ADNOC group companies have been behind many major announcements in recent editions (section 7). For a wider view of how AI is changing exhibitor stands, see our analysis of industrial AI booths between 2024 and 2026.

7. ADIPEC as a Dealmaking Show

Most trade shows sell leads. ADIPEC is also a platform for announcements, and its closing releases lead with the value of deals signed.

• 2024: more than US$10 billion in cross-sector deals, according to ADIPEC. Its release named ADNOC Drilling's acquisition of a 95 percent stake in Deep Well Services for US$223 million, TA'ZIZ awarding more than US$2 billion for infrastructure at Al Ruwais Industrial City, and a US$490 million ADNOC contract with BGP to expand what ADIPEC called the world's largest 3D seismic survey.
• 2025: US$46 billion through 35,000 cross-sector deals, according to ADIPEC's closing release. ADIPEC also estimated US$400 million in economic benefit to Abu Dhabi, mainly for hotels, tourism and transport. The National's coverage of the close cited deals including Masdar taking a 49 percent stake in OMV's 140 MW green hydrogen project in Austria and ADNOC Drilling's acquisition of an 80 percent stake in MB Petroleum.

Two cautions. First, these are organizer-reported totals, and ADIPEC doesn't say how deal values are counted, so the jump from US$10 billion to US$46 billion in a year is not a like-for-like comparison. Second, much of that value comes from large corporate and government transactions announced at the show, not from deals struck on the exhibition floor. For most exhibitors and visitors, the value of ADIPEC is still the meetings.

8. Exhibiting at ADIPEC

Unlike some shows of its size, ADIPEC doesn't publish its space rates. The stand booking form collects an enquiry, and pricing comes from the sales team (sales@adipec.com).

The form does tell you the shape of the offer:

• Stand sizes: 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25 and 30+ square meters.
• Areas: the general exhibition, or one of the four zones - Maritime & Logistics, Digitalisation in Energy, AI, and Low Carbon & Chemicals.
• Sponsorship: packages for the exhibition, the conferences, the Global Energy Club, the Leadership Roundtables, the ADIPEC Awards, Young ADIPEC and Golf Day (sponsorship@adipec.com).

For companies already booked:

• The exhibitor manual is at exhibitoronlinemanual.com/dmgevents/adipec-2026, and operational questions go to operations@adipec.com.
• Lead scanning is free for all exhibitors through the ADIPEC app.
• Visa invitation letters for exhibitors come from admin@adipec.com, not the visitor registration form.

ADIPEC's pitch to exhibitors rests on its audience: an expected 239,000+ attendees, around 95 percent of them decision-makers, purchasers or influencers. Both are organizer-reported figures. With costs for a Gulf show adding up quickly across space, build, freight, flights and hotels, it is worth deciding in advance how you will judge the return. Our guide to measuring trade show ROI covers what to track before you go.

9. Getting to and Around ADNEC

The ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi is on Khaleej Al Arabi Street, and ADNEC says it is about 15 minutes from Zayed International Airport. Two hotels are directly connected to the venue: the Andaz Capital Gate and the Aloft Abu Dhabi.

ADIPEC's travel guidance names three recommended ways to reach the venue: hotel shuttle, park-and-ride and taxi.

Hotel shuttles

ADIPEC runs a free shuttle every 30 minutes between selected hotels and the ADNEC Main Entrance, on the timetable in section 2. The hotels on the 2026 route list are:

• City: Erth, Park Rotana, Novotel Al Bustan, Grand Hyatt Corniche, Southern Sun, Sheraton Khalidiya and Centro Al Manhal
• Yas Island: Crowne Plaza Yas Island, Staybridge Suites Yas Island, and the four Yas Plaza hotels (Marina, Mangroves, Circuit and Bay), which share one pickup point

ADIPEC's detailed route plan is linked from the shuttle page, and hotel concierges can confirm pickup times.

Park-and-ride

A free park-and-ride service runs every 5 minutes from 06:00 to 19:00 on show days from Zayed Sports City and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. ADIPEC's travel guidance points drivers here rather than to on-site parking, and this is also your route in if you arrive after the morning hotel shuttles stop at 12:00.

Taxis

ADIPEC and ADNEC both offer a 15 percent discount on Careem rides to and from ADNEC with the code ADNEC. ADNEC also takes taxi bookings on 600 53 53 53.

Hotels and flights

ADIPEC's official travel partner is FLYT (adipec@flyt.ae), which handles flights, hotels, airport transfers and visa support for attendees. You don't have to book through FLYT, but if you want the free shuttle, choose a hotel on the list above. ADIPEC draws well over 200,000 attendees into a single city, so book early.

Visas

ADIPEC can issue an invitation letter to support a visa application. Visitors request it on the registration form; delegates, speakers and exhibitors use the email addresses in ADIPEC's FAQ. The letter supports your application but does not guarantee a visa, and ADIPEC tells attendees to check requirements with the UAE embassy or consulate in their country.

What you need depends on your passport. GCC citizens don't need a visa. Many other nationalities receive a visit visa on arrival, and others must arrange one before travel. The rules change: in June 2026, the UAE extended visa on arrival to nationals of Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya and South Africa who hold a valid residence permit from the US, an EU country, the UK, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand or Canada. Check the current list with the UAE's Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) before you book anything non-refundable. For other shows in the country, see our United Arab Emirates trade show listings.

10. A Planning Timeline

November is crowded for anyone covering several industries. The same week, the SEMA Show and AAPEX run in Las Vegas, and several other major shows follow later in the month. Our H2 2026 outlook covers how to choose when shows clash.

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FAQs

When and where is ADIPEC 2026? ADIPEC 2026 runs Monday 2 to Thursday 5 November 2026 at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, on Khaleej Al Arabi Street in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The exhibition is open 10:00-18:30 from Monday to Wednesday and 10:00-17:30 on Thursday, UAE time (GST, UTC+4).

How much does an ADIPEC 2026 visitor pass cost? A visitor pass costs US$60 if you register before the show and US$120 during show days, 2-5 November 2026. It covers all exhibition halls, the AI, Low Carbon & Chemicals, Digitalisation and Maritime & Logistics zones, the country pavilions and Young ADIPEC. Your print-at-home badge is emailed about a week before the exhibition.

How much is an ADIPEC delegate pass? ADIPEC offers two four-day delegate passes for 2026. The Technical Pass costs US$2,030 and covers the SPE Technical Programme and the Downstream Technical Programme. The All Access pass costs US$7,250 and covers all 13 conference programs, networking events, delegate lunches and the exhibition halls. SPE members can ask delegate@adipec.com about member rates.

Does the ADIPEC visitor pass include the conferences? No. The visitor pass gives access to the exhibition halls and specialized zones only. Conference sessions need a Technical Pass or an All Access delegate pass, and Global Energy Club membership does not include conference access either.

Can children attend ADIPEC? ADIPEC's general visitor registration is for people aged 18 and over, and there are no childcare facilities at the venue. Young ADIPEC runs its own school and student programs, so schools and younger participants should use the program's own participation routes rather than ordinary visitor registration.

How big is ADIPEC? ADIPEC 2025 drew a record 239,709 attendees from 172 countries, up 17 percent on 2024, when 205,139 attended. For 2026, ADIPEC reports 2,250+ exhibiting companies, 54 national and international oil and energy companies and 30 country pavilions, and expects 1,800+ speakers and 16,500+ conference delegates.

What is the ADIPEC 2026 theme? The ADIPEC 2026 theme is "Performance under pressure: Energy systems in a new era", with a focus on energy security and resilience. The conference has 13 programs, six of them new for 2026: Energy Security & Resilience; Policy, Regulation & Governance; Upstream; Clean Power, Molecules & Carbon Management; Grids, Infrastructure & Industrial Execution; and Workforce & Skills.

How do I get to ADIPEC? ADIPEC recommends three options. Free hotel shuttles run every 30 minutes from selected Abu Dhabi and Yas Island hotels to the ADNEC Main Entrance, towards the venue in the morning and back to hotels from 16:00 to 19:00. A free park-and-ride runs every 5 minutes from 06:00 to 19:00 on show days from Zayed Sports City and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Careem gives 15 percent off rides to and from ADNEC with the code ADNEC.

Can ADIPEC help with a UAE visa? ADIPEC can provide an invitation letter to support a visa application. Visitors request it on the visitor registration form, delegates through delegate@adipec.com, speakers through speakerenquiry@adipec.com and exhibitors through admin@adipec.com. The letter does not guarantee a visa, so check the requirements for your nationality with the UAE embassy or the ICP before booking travel.

How do I exhibit at ADIPEC? Submit the stand booking form on adipec.com or email sales@adipec.com. ADIPEC offers stands from 9 to 30+ square meters, in the general exhibition or in the AI, Digitalisation, Low Carbon & Chemicals and Maritime & Logistics zones, but it does not publish space rates. Lead scanning through the ADIPEC app is free for all exhibitors.