DUBAI, Oct 9 Reuters The United Arab Emirates is refashioning stateowned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ADNOC in the image of an international oil major by stepping up its global expansion and finding new revenue streams to maximise earnings for the Gulf state.

Like Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the UAE wants to exploit its fossil fuel resources while there is still strong demand for oil and gas and to spend the revenue on diversifying its economy to lessen its dependence on hydrocarbons.

As part of this strategy, ADNOC told Reuters it was actively pursuing select opportunities in the areas of renewable energy, gas, petrochemicals and liquefied natural gas LNG, without giving details of any specific targets.

Two people with knowledge of the matter said the company was on the hunt for LNG assets in Africa and was considering buying Galp39;s 10 stake in a multibilliondollar natural gas project in the Rovuma basin off the coast of Mozambique.

ADNOC declined to comment and Galp did not respond to questions from Reuters.

ADNOC has already been busy on the deal front this year. It bought a stake in an Azerbaijani gas field, has put in an offer with BP for a stake in Israeli gas producer NewMed Energy, has opened takeover talks with German plastics maker Covestro and is looking to create a 20 billion chemicals giant with Austria39;s OMV.

The stateowned company also told Reuters it was investing in energy trading, without giving further details. Reuters reported…