ADNOC overhauls ICV scoring system with 70-30 model to speed up supplier registration

New blended weighting from 1 November

Speaking at the Make It with ADNOC Forum in Abu Dhabi today, Salama Al Awadhi, Senior Vice President of Commercial Affairs, Group Local Value and Industrial Development at ADNOC, said the scoring system used since 2018 will be retired and replaced with a blended weighting. From 1 November, the commercial element will account for 70 per cent and the ICV component for 30 per cent.

Under the previous model, the supplier with the highest ICV score was required to match the lowest price. Al Awadhi explained that ADNOC’s growth ambitions now demand a different approach. “We need a new model. That model needs to be simpler, faster, and the most important, more competitive,” she said.

Al Awadhi also announced that the old H1 and L1 designations will be discontinued.

Contract thresholds and Local Plus expansion

Contracts valued below US$2 million will be completely exempt from ICV requirements, while those between US$2 million and US$50 million will follow the new 70/30 model. For contracts ranging from US$50 million to US$200 million, the 70/30 model applies along with an ICV improvement plan tied to the contract term. Mega projects exceeding US$200 million will receive a customised ICV requirement based on the contract scope and must submit an ICV improvement plan.

Al Awadhi confirmed that ADNOC will embed its Local Plus initiative in all its Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EBC) contracts, as announced last May. Just before the forum, a new batch of local manufacturers joined the Local Plus list, which now includes more than 100 manufacturers.

Automated retention and faster registration

ADNOC has automated the ICV retention process, eliminating the need for suppliers to send emails or make manual entries. “What you are going to need to do only is to upload your ICV certification, and the system automatically will give you your ICV obligation, and based on that, we will process for you the payments and by the way, it is live now,” Al Awadhi said.

The same drive for speed applies to supplier registration. Al Awadhi said ADNOC has removed unnecessary approvals, documents and steps. Registration will be 80 per cent faster, required documentation will be cut by 50 per cent, and 60 per cent of ADNOC’s services will be exempt from pre-qualification requirements. “Instead of waiting for weeks to register, now you can register at the same day,” she said.

Suppliers will no longer have to move between multiple platforms. Registration, due diligence and pre-qualification will all be in one place, and suppliers will need to register only once. Artificial intelligence will be used to validate documents. “AI will be embedded everywhere to validate any document you are uploading,” she added.

New identity and supplier dialogue

The changes are accompanied by a new visual identity. Al Awadhi noted that the old ICV logo had been part of the programme since 2018. “This logo started with us. This logo lived with you within your premises, within your signatures, and also within your stance in every event. The time has come to retire this logo and shift to a new identity,” she said.

Al Awadhi emphasised that the reforms were shaped through direct dialogue with suppliers. “In the past couple of months, we met our partners, our suppliers, our manufacturers. You told us exactly what went well, and you were very transparent with us of what we need to improve, and simply we listened,” she said. “It was not a decision made by us in ADNOC alone. It is a decision made together with you.”

The forum featured speeches from Hassan Jassim Al Noez, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology; Omar Abdulla Alnuaimi, Group Chief of ADNOC’s Commercial & In-Country Value Executive Function; Salama Al Awadhi; and Adel Al Yafei, Senior Vice President of Group Commercial Operations & Execution at ADNOC.