Sharjah National Oil Co. signed the second deal this month aimed at securing natural gas supplies for the United Arab Emirates.
The Persian Gulf emirate’s state oil company signed a memorandum of understanding with Uniper SE, of Germany, to import liquefied natural gas through the Port of Hamriyah, in Sharjah, according to a joint statement Wednesday. Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority will receive set quantities of gas via pipeline from Qatar under an accord signed last week, the utility’s Chairman Rashid Al Leem said in an interview.
Middle East countries are seeking new energy supplies to meet growing demand to power homes and industry. Most of the oil in the U.A.E is in Abu Dhabi. The emirate, holder of about six percent of global oil reserves, neighboring Dubai and Sharjah are developing solar plants to diversify fuel sources. Renewable power is one of the pillars of the U.A.E.’s energy policy, Suhail Al Mazrouei, the oil minister, said Wednesday in a speech in Istanbul.
Dolphin Energy Ltd., majority owned by an Abu Dhabi investment fund, signed a contract for gas from Qatar to supply utilities in the emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, Qatar News Agency reported on Oct. 5. The Sharjah utility previously received fluctuating amounts of gas from Qatar through the Dolphin pipeline, its Chairman Al Leem said.
“It wasn’t a firm quantity,” he said. “Now it’s firm.” He declined to say how much gas the emirate would receive under the arrangement or provide the price.
Uniper plans to start deliveries of gas to Sharjah in 2018, according to the statement. The company is evaluating bringing a vessel, known as a floating storage and regasification unit, to Sharjah to receive the fuel supplies, John Roper, Uniper’s Middle East head, said by e-mail Wednesday.
Source: Bloomberg
Author: Taghreed Almadani
