Dubai — The UAE’s state energy firm ADNOC (ADNOC.UL) said on Tuesday its planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) project would move forward in the Al Ruwais Industrial City in Abu Dhabi and not in the emirate of Fujairah.
The location’s vicinity to ADNOC’s current operations and its future growth projects as well as its local supplier base were all important factors in the decision, an ADNOC statement said.
The project had been planned in near Fujairah’s Gulf of Oman, which lies outside the narrow choke point between Iran and the Gulf known as the Strait of Hormuz.
ADNOC plans to more than double its LNG production capacity to meet rising global demand for through its new project.
The Ruwais plant, which is in its design phase, will have electric-powered processing facilities and run on renewable and nuclear grid power, making it one of the lowest carbon intensity LNG facilities globally, ADNOC said.
ADNOC already has around a 6 million tonne per year LNG facility on Das Island, off the coast of the capital Abu Dhabi.
The state energy giant consolidated its gas business this year under the ADNOC Gas entity and floated a stake in that company on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange.
Demand for natural gas soared as Europe scrambled to secure supplies to replace Russian gas in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
ADNOC Gas said this week it had signed a three-year supply agreement with a unit of France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) worth around $1.2 billion.
*Maha El Dahan, Editing: Louise Heavens – Reuters
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