Adnoc Gas awards $3.6bn contract to expand processing infrastructure

The agreement will maximise feedstock from company plants to meet future demand from customers

Adnoc Gas supplies more than 60 per cent of the UAE's gas needs. Photo: Adnoc

Adnoc Gas, estimated to have the seventh largest gas reserves globally, awarded a $3.6 billion contract to the joint venture between National Petroleum Construction Company and Tecnicas Reunidas to expand its gas processing infrastructure in the UAE.

The contract includes the commissioning of new gas processing facilities that will enable an optimised supply to the Ruwais Industrial Complex, the company said in a statement on Wednesday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares trade.

The integrated gas processing unit of Adnoc said the strategic Maximising Ethane Recovery and Monetisation project aims to increase ethane extraction, by a range of 35 - 40 per cent, from the company's existing onshore facilities in the Habshan complex through the construction of gas processing facilities.

It will also help unlock further value from existing feedstock and deliver it to Ruwais through a dedicated 120 kilometre natural gas liquids pipeline.

More than 70 per cent of the award value will flow back into the UAE’s economy under Adnoc's In-Country Value programme.

"This capital project represents Adnoc Gas’ latest investment in its gas processing infrastructure and underscores our commitment to responsibly meeting our customers’ current and future energy demand for natural gas and its feedstock," said Adnoc Gas chief executive Ahmed Alebri.

"The expansion of our gas processing infrastructure will also provide additional energy to the country’s growing industrial section, while stimulating economic growth and diversification through the significant ICV generated by the contract.”

Adnoc Gas has access to 95 per cent of the UAE's natural gas reserves and supplies more than 60 per cent of the country's gas needs.

Natural gas, an important raw material in industrial value chains, is a seminal transitional fuel with lower carbon emissions when burnt compared to other fossil fuels.

Earlier this year, Adnoc raised about $2.5 billion from the sale of a 5 per cent stake in Adnoc Gas.

The company's initial public offering was the largest listing in the world at the time, drawing more than $124 billion in orders from investors.

The Middle East is expected to spend up to $120 billion to boost natural gas production by more than 19 per cent by 2030, according to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

The region’s natural gas output will rise to 86 billion standard cubic feet a day by the end of the decade, from 72 bcfd currently, it said in a report in May.