Abu Dhabi indefinitely delays Fujairah LNG plant

Abu Dhabi is indefinitely delaying construction of the UAE’s first land-based facility for importing liquefied natural gas in Fujairah, according to reports.

Bloomberg cited two sources as saying the plans have been delayed after the emirate contracted a floating supply terminal.

Mubadala Petroleum and International Petroleum Investment Corporation joint venture EmiratesLNG LLC planned to use the facility to import 9 million tonnes of gas a year.

It was scheduled for completion in 2018.

However, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co will now boost the emirate’s gas purchases by hiring a floating storage vessel and regasification unit to begin importing LNG later this year, according to the news service.

The vessel will be based at Ruwais, to the west of Abu Dhabi, where there is an oil refinery and crude-loading port.

EmiratesLNG LLC is said to be looking at other options for the Fujairah facility including gas storage at the site, reloading onto ships for sale elsewhere and providing LNG as marine fuel. This would allow the emirate to store or resell any excess LNG capacity.

Despite boasting the seventh largest reserves of oil and gas, Abu Dhabi is among Middle Eastern producers seeking to raise gas imports for power plants and industry.

Kuwait and Dubai both import LNG via floating terminals.