Shell, Total, BP take stakes in UAE gas project

Flag of the United Arab Emirates | STOCK PHOTO

Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Energy majors TotalEnergies, Shell and BP will each take a 10 percent stake in a liquefied natural gas project in the United Arab Emirates, state energy giant ADNOC said Wednesday.

Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co. will also acquire 10 percent of the Ruwais LNG plant, scheduled to come online in 2028, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said.

ADNOC, the UAE’s key revenue-earner, will retain a 60 percent majority stake, the firm said following a signing ceremony.

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The Ruwais plant, currently under development in Abu Dhabi, is expected to produce about 9.6 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa), ADNOC said, more than doubling the company’s LNG production capacity in the UAE.

Ruwais, which will run on nuclear power, will be “one of the world’s lowest carbon-intensive LNG facilities”, said ADNOC chief executive Sultan Al Jaber.

ADNOC also said it has signed “several” long-term LNG sales agreements with international partners, including for one mtpa with Shell and 0.6 mtpa with Mitsui & Co., taking Ruwais’s committed production capacity to 70 percent.

Gas is being touted as cleaner than other fossil fuels as countries around the world strive to reduce their emissions and slow global warming.

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Demand for gas spiked following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with several Gulf countries looking to boost output.

Qatar this year announced new plans to expand output from the world’s biggest natural gas field, saying it will boost capacity to 142 million tonnes per year before 2030.