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Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is in talks with potential international investors, including Shell and TotalEnergies, to sell stakes in its planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais Industrial City.

The British and French energy majors, as well as Japanese investment firm Mitsui & Co, are looking to invest in equity stakes in the Ruwais LNG facility, as well as contracts to purchase LNG from it, according to a Bloomberg news report.

The planned LNG export terminal in Ruwais will have the capacity to produce about 9.6 million tonnes a year (t/y) of LNG from two processing trains, each with a capacity of 4.8 million t/y.

The facility, to be operated by Adnoc Group subsidiary Adnoc Gas, will ship LNG mainly to key Asian markets, such as Pakistan, India, China, South Korea and Japan.

Adnoc is yet to reach a final investment decision (FID) on the estimated $5.2bn Ruwais export terminal project. In November last year, the Abu Dhabi energy giant announced it was advancing towards FID on the project.

In March, however, Adnoc issued a limited notice to proceed to a consortium of contractors for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the Ruwais LNG terminal project. The limited notice to proceed was awarded to a consortium led by France’s Technip Energies, consisting of Japan-based JGC Corporation and Abu Dhabi-owned NMDC Energy.

MEED has previously reported that Adnoc is expected to issue the full EPC contract award for the Ruwais LNG project in June this year.

Planned LNG terminal

The Ruwais LNG project will feature process units, storage tanks, an export jetty for loading cargoes and LNG bunkering, utilities, flare handling systems and associated buildings. The project also requires designs for electric-powered rotary equipment and compressors instead of gas-fired units.

US-based Baker Hughes has won a $400m contract to supply all-electric compression systems for the planned LNG terminal. The order was placed with Nuovo Pignone International, a subsidiary of Baker Hughes.

The LNG trains will run on energy-efficient Baker Hughes technology, including compressors driven by 75MW electric motors.

The only other bidder for the Ruwais LNG terminal project is a consortium of US-based McDermott, Italian contractor Saipem and South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction.

The two competing consortiums submitted technical bids for the project by the deadline of 31 May last year, MEED previously reported. They submitted commercial bids by the deadline of 29 December.

Separately, MEED also reported that Adnoc Gas had awarded local contractor Al Jaber Energy Services the contract for the project’s site preparation works in late December last year.

Project site selection

Adnoc Gas originally planned to build the LNG terminal in the UAE emirate of Fujairah, which sits outside the Strait of Hormuz on the coast of the Gulf of Oman.

However, in May 2023, the company announced that it was shifting the project location from Fujairah to Ruwais, Abu Dhabi.

MEED previously reported that Adnoc Gas had received revised technical bids from contractors in May last year for the new scope of work on the project.

As part of their technical bids, contractors had to propose one of three sites shortlisted by Adnoc Gas in the EPC tender, adjacent to where the LNG complex could be established. These sites were located within, or close to, Ruwais Industrial City:

• Ruwais Refinery West
• Ruwais Derivatives Park
• Manayif gas processing plant

In September, MEED reported that Adnoc Gas had selected a site close to Ruwais Refinery West to build the planned LNG facility.

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