Dolphin Energy Limited, the Abu Dhabi state-controlled venture transporting natural gas to the UAE from Qatar’s North Field, is planning a monthlong maintenance shutdown at two of its offshore platforms in Qatar in February 2011.
The work includes extensive work to inspect Trains 1 and 2 of the Stream 2 facilities which are located in the company’s gas processing plant at Ras Laffan, Qatar. In turn, this will allow work to take place on one of Dolphin’s offshore platforms.
The company is seeking two offshore accommodation rigs to support work at the seaborne platforms in Qatari waters according to an advertisement carried in the Dubai-based newspaper Gulf News Monday. Dolphin is seeking bids by noon Qatar time on October 19, according to the tender announcement. The company issued the tender to hire the rigs for 28 days, with possible extensions of as much as two months.
The maintenance program will take place from 1st to 28th February and at a time of low consumer demand, the company said in a statement. Such works are normally coordinated with Dolphin Energy’s customers to ensure minimal disruption, it added.
The company expects that during this time, gas supply to customers is expected to reduce by half from 2 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas per day to 1 billion standard cubic feet.
Dolphin Energy has implemented partial shutdowns of the plant in both 2009 and 2010. They are a regular feature of the energy industry worldwide and are undertaken to ensure the highest standards of safety, maintenance and environmental protection.
The Dolphin pipeline, 51percent-owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company, imports about 2 billion cubic feet of gas daily under long-term supply contracts with state-run Qatar Petroleum. The UAE, which holds about 7% of global crude oil reserves, needs to import gas to fire power plants as domestic energy demand grows.
