UAE poised to unveil landmark $10bn gas deal

LANDMARK DEAL: Abu Dhabi should announce an agreement with Conoco in the

Abu Dhabi is poised to seal a $10 billion project with US oil major ConocoPhillips to tap the emirate's vast natural gas reserves, the company's chief executive has said.

Jim Mulva said the deal should be announced in the "next month or two", under which Conoco would be working with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), the UK's Financial Times (FT) reported on Tuesday.

Conoco is competing against the likes of Royal Dutch Shell and Occidental Petroleum for the contract, which has been under negotiation for several months, but unconfirmed reports have suggested it will win the deal, according to the newspaper.

“We’re working very hard on this project,’’ Mulva told the FT. “Hopefully there will be an announcement that we will be working together in the next month or two.’’

The gas will be used to meet soaring power demand in the UAE, which is in the midst of a massive economic boom and population explosion that is putting a strain on the Gulf state's utility infrastructure.

Demand for power in the UAE capital is expected to triple by 2015, the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company (Adwec) said last month.

The emirate's peak demand currently stood at about 5,286 megawatts and was expected to surge to 8,276 megawatts in 2010 and 14,946 megawatts in 2015, Adwec said.

While in Dubai demand for power is expected to grow as much as 20% per year, according to Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).

The UAE has the world's fifth-largest natural gas reserves, estimated at more than 200 trillion cubic feet, but has not developed them quickly enough to meet rising gas demand.

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