The Ruwais facility, which is presently being developed in Al Ruwais Industrial City in Abu Dhabi. It is anticipated to launch in the latter part of 2028.
Global energy giants BP, Mitsui of Japan, Shell and TotalEnergies will all receive 10% equity stakes in Adnoc’s Ruwais liquified natural gas project in Abu Dhabi. This will enhance the emirate’s standing as a center for energy investment and move the facility’s final investment decision closer to completion.
As it expands its international LNG portfolio, Adnoc will maintain a 60% majority ownership in the project, which would more than increase the company’s UAE production capacity of the supercooled fuel to over 15 million tonnes annually, according to a statement released on Wednesday by the Abu Dhabi Media Office.
The parent company’s controlling interest in Ruwais LNG would be acquired by Adnoc Gas, the integrated gas processing subsidiary of Adnoc, its chief executive informed TN, without citing a specific date.
“In addition to taking a majority equity stake in Ruwais LNG, Adnoc Gas will oversee its construction and operate the world-class plant after it is commissioned in 2028,” stated Ahmed Alebri.
Adnoc also inked long-term LNG sales contracts with foreign partners on Wednesday.
This includes an agreement with Shell to deliver one million tonnes per year and with Mitsui to deliver 600,000 tonnes annually. With these agreements, 70% of LNG production capacity has been committed through offtake agreements.
The transactions’ total estimated value was kept a secret.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Shiekh Khaled bin Mohamed, held a discussion on the future of the energy industry with executives from international energy companies. He highlighted the UAE’s efforts to address energy concerns by investing in clean and lower-carbon projects.
The Ruwais facility, which is presently being developed in Al Ruwais Industrial City in Abu Dhabi, will include two LNG liquefaction trains, each with a capacity of 4.8 million tonnes annually, for a total annual capacity of 9.6 million tonnes. It is anticipated to launch in the latter part of 2028.
Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc, stated, “As natural gas demand continues to increase, this world-class project will enable us to provide more lower-carbon gas to meet growing demand today while helping the world transition to a cleaner energy future.”
Adnoc, which produces practically all of the oil in the United Arab Emirates, wants to establish itself as a dominant force in the LNG market as the fuel’s demand is expected to rise over the coming decades.
The company made its first investment in the United States when it purchased an 11.7% interest in the first phase of NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG export project in Texas in May.
In the same month, Adnoc also purchased a 10% share in Galp, a Portuguese energy business, which owns the Area 4 concession in Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin. Through the acquisition, the business will gain access to a portion of the concession’s annual output of LNG, which has a total capacity of more than 25 million tonnes.
Countries like China and India want to increase the amount of natural gas in their energy mix since it is thought to be a cleaner alternative to other fossil fuels.
According to Shell’s LNG Outlook, which was published in February, there will be a more than 50% rise in global LNG consumption by 2040. This increase will be primarily driven by China’s industrial coal-to-gas conversion and by South and South-East Asian countries using more LNG to support economic growth.
The CEO of Shell, Wael Sawan, stated in a separate statement that “this investment decision builds on our long-standing partnership with Adnoc.”
“In line with our strategy to create more value with less emissions, we are investing in additional LNG capacity … with energy-efficient and carbon-competitive projects.”
The Ruwais facility, which is among the LNG plants with the lowest carbon intensity in the world, will enable natural gas to “fully play its role of transition fuel,” according to TotalEnergies chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne.
Adnoc Gas stated in April that it planned to acquire Ruwais LNG strategically in addition to perhaps acquiring assets in Europe, India, China, and Southeast Asia, with the goal of more than doubling its capacity to produce LNG by 2028.
The company inked LNG export deals for up to $12 billion in 2023. The company has access to 95% of the natural gas reserves in the United Arab Emirates.
In order to increase its processing capacity, it also issued contracts totalling $4.9 billion last year.
With multiple sizable projects scheduled to come online in the upcoming years, there are worries about a possible glut in the global LNG market, which has led to the development of Ruwais LNG.
Mr. Alebri stated, “We are prepared for any abnormalities in the market itself, especially when we talk about the years beyond 2027.” According to him, there are a lot of unknowns in the industry, such as whether or not projects being developed in the US, Australia, and Asia will be finished on schedule.
