LNG

Kent, the privately-owned international integrated energy services company headquartered in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, has won a natural gas pipeline project contract to improve energy security for some of the smaller of the seven emirates that make up the UAE.

The Kent group, which is backed by private equity firm Bluewater, was named as the project management consultant (PMC) for the new pipeline in the northern UAE to supply RAKGAS.

RAKGAS is a state-owned energy business set up in 1984 in Ras Al Khaimah, transitioning from a gas company to a diverse energy provider.

Ras Al Khaimah is the largest city and capital of the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

It is the sixth-largest city in the UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain and Ajman.

Pipeline route

The pipeline will stretch from the Taweelah-Fujairah Gas Pipeline to Ras Al Khaimah with a connection to the Sajaa gas storage in the Sharjah emirate.   

The Taweelah-Fujairah link is an existing natural gas pipeline running for 244 kilometres (152 miles) in length from Taweelah in Abu Dhabi to Al Fujairah.

Kent will be responsible for coordinating efforts between RAKGAS and the front-end engineering and design (FEED) study contractor, ensuring that the project’s progression remains on target and aligned with its planned objectives.

“Collaborating with Kent on this project is a testament to our vision for energy supply in the region,” said RAKGAS Chief Executive Chris Wood.

“Their expertise and experience in the UAE will steer this project to success, ensuring we deliver on our commitments for energy security in Ras Al Khaimah,” Woods stated.

Partnership

Tush Doshi, Chief Operating Officer at Kent, said he was proud to partner with RAKGAS on this project.

“It will allow us to bring our world-class PMC delivery expertise to the Northern Emirates,” Doshi explained.

“We look forward to a long-lasting relationship with RAKGAS, as we ensure a continuous and seamless execution across leading energy projects in the region,” said the Kent COO.

Both Kent and RAKGAS added that they had adopted a “proactive approach” to addressing the region’s energy needs.

The Kent group is growing as a Middle East player. It gained some engineering traction in July 2021 when it completed the acquisition of the majority of the oil and gas division of Montreal, Canada-based engineers SNC-Lavalin.

Excelerate Energy, the leading US provider of floating LNG import terminals, has extended a time-charter agreement with the Dubai Supply Authority for a floating storage and regasification unit deployed in the United Arab Emirates.

Excelerate said that prior to the deal the agreement for the FSRU “Explorer” had a remaining firm charter period of around three years.

Under the terms of the new agreement, the charter period will be extended by an additional five years from the end of the existing contract in the fourth quarter of 2025.

“Reaching an agreement on the extension of our time-charter agreement with DUSUP highlights our ongoing efforts to develop and grow our existing, diversified regasification business,” said Daniel Bustos, Chief Commercial Officer of Excelerate.

Revenues foundation

“Our current markets are essential to maintaining our solid foundation of revenues and providing new opportunities for downstream growth,” he added.

“We look forward to continuing our partnership with DUSUP and remain committed to providing Dubai with the critical energy security it needs,” stated Bustos. 

FSRUs are a preferred option for Middle East nations and there are other floating terminals currently in operation in Kuwait, Jordan and Israel.

Bahrain and Egypt also have the onshore and offshore infrastructure for FSRUs though have no new charter agreements in place.

The FSRU “Explorer” was chartered initially to Dubai in 2015 to complement existing supply sources and support the Emirate of Dubai's seasonal demand requirements.

The vessel is located at DUSUP's Jebel Ali port and has become an important part of Dubai's integrated supply infrastructure.

The UAE entered into its first long-term charter agreement with Excelerate in 2014 for a larger and more efficient FSRU to replace an existing regasification vessel.

Under that agreement, Excelerate customized the “Explorer” in 2015 to meet the DUSUP's higher supply requirements.

Excelerate had enhanced the vessel with the newest features including new high-pressure vaporizers and pumps installed to increase regasification send-out capacity from 690 million cubic feet per day to 1 billion cubic feet per day.

Italian energy company Eni and Sharjah National Oil Corp. in the LNG exporting and importing nation of the United Arab Emirates have started production start-up at the Mahani natural gas field in the emirate of Sharjah.

Qatar Petroleum has signed a long-term supply agreement with Arab Gulf neighbour Kuwait for the supply of liquefied natural gas cargoes for a period of 15 years at a new larger Kuwaiti onshore regasification terminal currently under construction.