Dubai may put its empty gas reservoirs to good use by using them to store natural gas for trade, according to a report in the National.
Under its long-term energy strategy, Dubai’s Supreme Council of Energy has been considering the use of depleted reservoirs as storage berths for a year, according to the National.
The plan would require significant investment in export infrastructure, and could see Dubai launch its own gas benchmark in order for gas to be traded out of the Emirate, a fillip to the Dubai International Financial Centre.
Dubai itself is a natural gas importer, relying on a combination of LNG and piped gas to keep the lights on, and is projected to see its requirements for power generation feedstock rise considerably over the medium term. As such, it is not the most obvious choice for a gas trading terminal in the gulf, with resource-rich Qatar being a more likely candidate. Dubai does, however, offer quicker access via shipping lanes to intercontinental markets.
Saeed Mohammed al-Tayer, vice chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, MD and CEO of Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA), recently confirmed the Emirate’s continuing reliance on gas, telling Utilties Middle East that Dubai’s main source for power generation over the next 30 years “will be gas, with 71% of power generated, 5% will be renewable, 12% of power generated will be from nuclear energy.”
