Abu Dhabi draws energy majors to LNG project as competition grows

ABU Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) on Wednesday (Jul 10) awarded stakes in its Ruwais liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion project to four international companies, as competition intensifies among Gulf states to produce the fuel.

Energy companies are betting on rising demand for the super-chilled fuel in coming decades, as Asian economies grow and after Europe cut off most of its pipeline gas supplies from Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Adnoc handed Shell, BP, TotalEnergies and Japan’s Mitsui each a 10 per cent stake in the project, which will is expected to start production in late 2028. Adnoc will retain the remaining 60 per cent.

The Ruwais project, which will run on clean power, will consist of two plants each producing 4.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG, which will more than double Adnoc’s LNG capacity to 15 mtpa.

Reuters reported sources saying last week that Adnoc had earmarked a 40 per cent stake in Ruwais to the four energy majors.

Adnoc also agreed to supply Shell with one mtpa of LNG from the plant, and 0.6 mtpa to Mitsui, the UAE government media office said.

Adnoc has big ambitions in gas and LNG, which along with renewable energy and petrochemicals it sees as pillars for its future growth, putting it in competition with regional rivals Qatar – one of the world’s top LNG exporters – and Saudi Arabia, which also has LNG ambitions.

Qatar this year announced a further expansion of its North Field project that will cement it as one of the world’s top LNG exporters.

In February it announced a new 16 mtpa expansion phase of its LNG production that will bring total capacity to 142 mtpa, up from 77 million tonnes. REUTERS