Dolphin Upgrade Scheduled For End-2014 Completion

9 May 2014 Issue: 57 / 19

Mubadala says that the Dolphin gas pipeline connecting Qatar to Abu Dhabi and Oman will be able to pump at 3.2bn cfd capacity by end-2014. But it remains to be seen if Qatar is willing to sell the UAE more gas amid political tension.

In spite of its nameplate 3.2bn cfd capacity, the Dolphin pipeline supplies average volumes of less than 2bn cfd to the UAE and Oman, and is only capable of slightly higher volumes due to compressor limitations. To boost effective pipeline capacity, the Dolphin Energy consortium last year began a $370mn project to increase the number of compressors from six to nine.

“By the end of this year Dolphin is going to have the ability to push a lot more gas…When and if and how that gas is going to come, I don’t know. For us it’s important to have the availability of the capacity, and then it’s going to be between the [various national] authorities to determine [actual volumes],” Maurizio la Noce, CEO of Abu Dhabi state firm Mubadala Petroleum told UAE daily The National. (CONTINUED - 878 WORDS)