Oman-UAE pipeline nears completion; gas to flow in December

Omani authorities say a 45 km pipeline to supply natural gas to the Dolphin Energy Ltd. (DEL) project in the UAE will be completed by November, with gas volumes to begin flowing soon thereafter. Oman Gas Co. (OGC) will operate the pipeline.

Sept. 15, 2003

2 min read

By Eric Watkins
Middle East Correspondent

NICOSIA, Sept. 15 -- Omani authorities say a 45 km pipeline to supply natural gas to the Dolphin Energy Ltd. (DEL) project in the UAE will be completed by November, with gas volumes to begin flowing soon thereafter. Oman Gas Co. (OGC) will operate the pipeline.

"Gas supply will start by mid-December this year, and the [supply] contract between Oman and Dolphin is for 3 1/2 years," said Sulaiman al Balushi, acting executive director of OGC.

The $18.6 million gas spur will supply natural gas from the Fahud-Sohar pipeline at Mahdha in Northern Oman to Al Ain, on the border with the UAE. There, the Omani pipeline will interconnect with the 182 km, 24-in. Dolphin pipeline currently under construction.

Oman will supply DEL with 4.8 million cu m/day of natural gas, which will be used as feedstock for a 656 Mw power plant and 100 gal/day desalination plant currently under construction by Union Water & Electricity Co. in Fujairah (OGJ Online, Apr. 14, 2003).

By 2006, when Dolphin's new pipeline system from Qatar is in operation, Omani gas will be replaced by supplies from Qatar which will flow directly to Fujairah via the new Dolphin link and existing land lines to Al Ain.

With the onset of Qatari supplies, the flow of the Mahdha-Al Ain spur can be reversed, enabling Oman to receive natural gas from the Dolphin project, either for its own use or for onward transmission to other areas, such as Pakistan or India.

The Abu Dhabi government owns 51% of DEL through Dolphin Investment Co.; Total AS of France owns 24.5% and Occidental Petroleum Corp. 24.5%.