Dolphin delivers

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A vast overland pipeline links the Abu Dhabi receiving terminal with Dubai and Oman.

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The main processing plant and flow control centre is based in Ras Laffan industrial complex, located 80 kilometres from Doha on Qatar’s northern coast.

The region's first cross border energy pipeline project shows exemplary vision for regional co-operation. Oil & Gas Middle East met with Adel Al Buainain, general manager - Qatar, Dolphin Energy at the official launch.

The region's first cross-border gas pipeline to be built in the Middle East was officially launched in May, linking Qatar's vast North Field to the UAE and Oman.

The grand ceremony took place under Royal patronage, and was witnessed by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, the Crown Prince of Qatar, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

The US$5 billion project is an unprecedented achievement for the region and the best example of Gulf co-operation to date.

During the launch, held at Ras Laffan on Qatar's northern coast, 80 kilometres north of Doha, the two leaders toured the processing plant and export facilities.

The project was conceived in the early 1990s by the governments of the UAE and Qatar, and has been brought through to fruition by a private company, Dolphin Energy which is 51% owned by Mubadala, Abu Dhabi's investment arm.

The project was undertaken in conjunction with international oil companies Total and Occidental, each holding a minority stake.

As the economies of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman boom, energy demands have followed suit, and it is the need for greater electricity generation that has spurred the project on.

The 364km pipeline runs from Ras Laffan, on the upper tip of the Qatar Peninsula, to Taweelah in Abu Dhabi, one of the capital's primary electricity and desalination plants. From there, the gas is piped overland to Dubai, Al Ain, Fujairah and Oman.

Earlier this year, Dolphin achieved its target production rate of two billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), roughly equivalent to 350,000 barrels of oil.

The pipeline was initially designed as the first part of a regional grid that could have stretched to Kuwait, and Bahrain, but early efforts to get every country to commit proved disappointing, and that network is now unlikely to take shape.

"In the 1990s, I was begging people to buy gas from Qatar. Now my problem is how to say no," said Qatar's deputy premier and minister of energy and industry, Abdullah al Attiyah at the launch.

Qatar's vast North Field is the largest gas deposit in the world, with about 900 trillion cubic feet of reserves. The minister explained that despite the fields huge resources it was pertinent that overproduction be avoided.

Abu Dhabi itself has huge gas reserves, but production of its sour product is an expensive undertaking, and importing Qatar's sweeter natural gas remains more economically viable.

Oil and Gas Middle East met Adel Al Buainain, general manager - Qatar, Dolphin Energy, at the historic inauguration.

Al Buainain is responsible for all of Dolphin Energy's activities in the State of Qatar, including the 24 offshore gas wells and twin production platforms, the twin sealines to Ras Laffan and the Dolphin Gas Processing Plant at Ras Laffan Industrial City.

"Dolphin Energy's gas project is the largest single energy initiative ever undertaken in the Middle East and the pipeline will be a unique source of clean, new energy for the Southern Gulf," says Al Buainain.

"Through its supply of gas from Qatar, it also brings together three GCC nations - the UAE, Qatar and Oman - in a regional energy network for the very first time. We used to ship this product around, but the pipeline will bring obvious economic and efficiency benefits, but also improved cultural and social ties through greater co-operation."

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