The owners of a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project in Fujairah, UAE, have received bids for the scheme’s front-end engineering design (feed) contract, according to market sources.

Local investors Mubadala Development Company and International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic) plan to establish a floating terminal to receive LNG on the country’s east coast by the end of 2014. The feed award is expected to be awarded in August this year.

The project will be built in two phases, each with the capacity to handle 600 million cubic feet a day (cf/d). Mubadala and Ipic have not disclosed the value of the project, but a similar project being developed by Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) is being tendered for about $1bn.

The terminal will allow the UAE to import gas without tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which separates the country from Iran. Gas demand is increasing in the UAE due to the construction of new power plants and energy-intensive industries, such as metals and petrochemicals.