Adnoc awards $400m contract to Baker Hughes for Ruwais LNG plant

The project consists of two natural gas liquefaction trains with a total capacity of 9.6 million metric tonnes per annum

The project consists of two natural gas liquefaction trains with a total capacity of 9.6 million metric tonnes per annum. Photo: Adnoc

Adnoc has awarded a contract valued at more than $400 million to Baker Hughes for the supply of all-electric compression systems for its liquefied natural gas project in Ruwais.

The US oilfield technology company’s compressors will be driven by 75-megawatt electric motors, Adnoc said on Wednesday.

The Ruwais plant will be the first LNG project in the Mena region to run on clean power, making it “one of the lowest carbon-intensity LNG facilities in the world”, the state-run energy company said.

“The Ruwais LNG project reinforces Adnoc’s leadership within the LNG industry and underscores our commitment to decarbonisation, sustainability and innovation,” said Fatema Al Nuaimi, executive vice president of downstream business management at Adnoc.

“The project aligns with Adnoc’s objectives to grow our energy portfolio with lower-carbon solutions, reinforcing our position as a reliable global supplier of natural gas.”

The LNG project consists of two natural gas liquefaction trains with a total capacity of 9.6 million metric tonnes per annum.

When completed, it will more than double Adnoc’s LNG production capacity amid growing global demand for natural gas.

Adnoc had previously said the Ruwais plant will run on renewable and nuclear grid power.

Ruwais, which is at the centre of Adnoc’s downstream ambitions, has been earmarked for a multibillion-dollar expansion that will expand its refining capacity to 1.5 million barrels per day by 2025, making it the largest refiner in terms of capacity.

Adnoc Gas, a unit of Adnoc, has access to 95 per cent of the UAE's natural gas reserves, estimated to be the seventh-largest globally. It also supplies more than 60 per cent of the country's gas needs.

Last month, Adnoc Gas signed an agreement to supply LNG worth $450 million to $550 million to a subsidiary of state-owned energy company PetroChina.

In August, it signed a five-year LNG supply agreement with Japan Petroleum Exploration, also valued at between $450 million and $550 million.

In July, the Adnoc subsidiary announced a 14-year supply agreement with the Indian Oil Corporation, the South Asian country’s largest refiner.

Competition for LNG has increased since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, with Europe importing record volumes of the supercooled fuel to replace Moscow's gas supplies.

Global LNG trade hit a high of $450 billion in 2022 amid a surge in European demand, according to the International Energy Agency.