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Setup guide

How to start an energy or oil and gas company in the UAE

Providing services to the industry and trading petroleum products are different activities with different approvals. Vendor registration with a national operator such as ADNOC or ENOC frequently takes longer than the company formation it depends on.

6 authorities licence this Commercial or Industrial licence ISIC Section B

What it costs

The cost drivers for this trade.

The UAE is a major energy producer and a growing energy-transition investor, with Fujairah among the world's largest bunkering and storage hubs and Masdar anchoring the renewables cluster.

Figures on this page

UAE logistics market estimated around USD 65bn in 2025, forecast to roughly USD 112bn by 2035 (5.5% CAGR). Jebel Ali handled 15.5 million TEU in 2024. Road freight accounts for about 46% of the market and Dubai for about 39%.

Market research aggregates and DP World reporting, 2024–25

How the business makes money here

Project-based with long cycles and heavy qualification requirements. Vendor registration with a national operator can take longer than the company formation it depends on. Storage and trading are working capital businesses; services are people and equipment businesses.

What it costs to start

Published "from" prices compare licence fees and ignore everything that actually moves the total. These are the variables that decide what a energy, oil & gas business pays in year one.

Storage and handling
Tank capacity, environmental permitting and civil defence approval graded by product class and volume.
Vendor qualification
ADNOC, ENOC and the utilities each run their own supplier registration, separate from any licence and often lengthy.
Industrial premises
Oilfield services and fabrication need real industrial space, which places you in Hamriyah, KEZAD or RAKEZ.
Insurance and HSE
Material recurring costs that shape viability at small scale.

We quote a single all-in figure with every government fee itemised beside our own, before you commit. Ranges published anywhere — including here — are indicative.

Why here

Regional advantages

  • National operators are enormous customers

    ADNOC and the utilities represent contract values available in few markets.

  • Fujairah storage and bunkering

    World-scale infrastructure outside the Strait of Hormuz.

  • Energy transition investment

    Masdar and sovereign capital are funding a genuine renewables sector rather than announcing one.

And the other side

Regional disadvantages

  • Vendor qualification is slow

    National operator registration frequently takes longer than everything else combined.

  • Capital and HSE requirements

    Industrial premises, environmental permitting and safety systems before first revenue.

  • Two different businesses

    Services to the industry and trading petroleum products have different activities, approvals and economics.

Approvals

Beyond the trade licence.

Storage and blending
Environmental and civil defence approvals graded by volume and product class.
Operator vendor registration
ADNOC, ENOC and the utilities each run their own supplier qualification, separate from any licence.
Renewables
Emirate utility and regulatory approvals for grid-connected generation.
The expensive mistake. Building a business plan around a national operator contract before understanding the vendor registration process. Qualification can take longer than the company took to form, and it cannot be accelerated by anyone selling you a licence.

The sequence

How the setup runs.

  1. Confirm the activity and the licence category

    Map what you actually do onto the authority's activity schedule and identify any external approval it triggers, before a name is reserved or a fee is paid.

  2. Choose the jurisdiction

    Free zone or mainland, decided by who receives your invoices — then narrowed by visa quota, premises need and cost.

  3. Reserve the trade name and obtain initial approval

    Three candidate names checked against the register and the naming rules, then initial approval confirming no objection to you owning this business.

  4. Prepare and notarise the incorporation documents

    Memorandum of association, shareholder resolutions, attestations where required, and a power of attorney if you are not in the country.

  5. Take the licence, establishment card and immigration file

    The company now exists, can contract and can sponsor residence visas.

  6. Complete residence, banking and registrations

    Medical and Emirates ID, corporate bank account, corporate tax registration and any VAT, ESR or UBO obligation the structure carries.

Shortlist

Where to license it.

Four worth looking at for this activity, and why each one is on the list. All 6 are in the finder.

HamriyahHamriyah Free Zonethe established oil and gas services cluster, with its own portFFZFujairah Free Zonestorage, blending and bunkering outside the Strait of HormuzKEZADKhalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabiheavy industrial land beside Khalifa PortMasdarMasdar City Free Zonerenewables and the energy transition

See all 6 in the jurisdiction finder

Questions

Trading petroleum products carries product-specific approvals and, where storage is involved, environmental and civil defence permitting. Providing services to the industry is a different activity with different requirements.

Hamriyah in Sharjah for services and fabrication with its own deep-water port, Fujairah for storage and bunkering, KEZAD for heavy industrial next to Khalifa Port.

Through ADNOC's own vendor registration and qualification process, which is separate from company licensing and frequently the longest item in the schedule.

Next

One question

Who will be paying your invoices?