Abu Dhabi is indefinitely delaying construction of the first land-based facility for importing liquefied natural gas into the United Arab Emirates after it contracted a floating supply terminal, Bloomberg reports.
EmiratesLNG LLC is looking at other options for the planned onshore facility in the emirate of Fujairah, including storing gas at the site, reloading it on ships for sale elsewhere and providing LNG as marine fuel, sources told Bloomberg.
EmiratesLNG is a joint venture of two Abu Dhabi government-owned investment companies, Mubadala Petroleum and International Petroleum Investment Corp.
EmiratesLNG plans to build an onshore facility in Fujairah capable of importing 9mn tonnes of gas a year. Using the plant to store or resell LNG cargoes would allow Abu Dhabi to make use of any excess capacity, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
EmiratesLNG was planned for completion in 2018.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) will boost the emirate’s gas purchases by hiring a vessel known as a floating storage and regasification unit, which will begin importing LNG later this year, the people said.
The vessel will be based at the industrial town of Ruwais, that also has an oil refinery and crude-loading port.
Abu Dhabi injects most of its own gas into oil wells to maintain pressure to force crude out of the deposits, UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei had said last year. The country must buy gas as fuel for power plants and has been a net importer since 2008, when Qatar began supplying it by pipeline.
