The United Arab Emirates has decided to build its new natural gas export facility at the port of Ruwais in the Persian Gulf instead of Fujairah on the coast of the Gulf of Oman.
State-controlled Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. initially planned to build the plant, which will more than double the United Arab Emirates’ liquefied natural gas production capacity, in Fujairah, a major trading hub for petroleum products in the Middle East The company said it had assessed all location options and decided that Ruwais benefited from being closer to some of Adnoc’s major facilities, which include gas fields and petrochemical plants.
Adnoc has not disclosed the cost of the plant, but they typically require billions of dollars of investment.
Fujairah lies outside the Strait of Hormuz, the choke point at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil exports pass.
The UAE is ramping up gas production to power local power plants and a growing chemical industry, as well as meet growing demand for LNG in Europe and Asia.
On Monday, Adnoc announced a three-year deal worth approximately $1.2 billion at current prices to supply LNG to TotalEnergies SE.
