Adnoc Gas, the natural gas processing business of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Group), has awarded three contracts worth $2.1bn to build infrastructure that will facilitate gas feedstock for the upcoming liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais.

A consortium of Egyptian contractors Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (Enppi) and Petrojet won a $1.24bn contract for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of an LNG pre-conditioning plant within Adnoc Gas’ Habshan-5 gas processing complex.

The LNG pre-conditioning plant is intended to have the capacity to supply 1.5 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas feedstock for the Ruwais LNG complex.

UK-headquartered Petrofac secured a $335m contract to develop new compression facilities at the Habshan gas processing complex. This contract constitutes package 5 of Adnoc Gas’ larger project to upgrade its sales gas pipeline network across the UAE, also known as Estidama.

China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company won a $514m contract for EPC works to build a transmission pipeline network to provide gas to the Ruwais LNG complex and to other Adnoc Gas customers in the Northern Emirates.

This contract constitutes package 8 of the Estidama project. In November, MEED reported that China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering was the favourite to win Estidama package 8.

The selection of contractors for packages 5 and 8 concludes the contract award exercise for the estimated $3bn Estidama project. Through the Estidama scheme, Adnoc Gas aims to extend the existing 3,200 kilometre (km) pipeline network to over 3,500km, enabling the transportation of higher volumes of natural gas to customers across the UAE.

Detailed scope of work

The new LNG pre-conditioning plant will treat gas processed at facilities being built as part of Adnoc Gas’ Maximise Ethane Recovery & Monetisation (Meram) project.

Adnoc Gas awarded a $3.6bn contract for Project Meram to a consortium of Abu Dhabi’s NMDC Energy and Spanish contractor Tecnicas Reunidas in August 2023.

The Meram project has dual objectives. The first goal is to increase ethane extraction by 35%-40% from Adnoc Gas’ existing onshore facilities in the Habshan gas processing complex by constructing new gas processing facilities. The second goal is to unlock further value from existing feedstock and deliver it to Ruwais via a 120km natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline.

The new LNG pre-conditioning plant will be an intermediate gas treatment facility for gas originating at Meram facilities, with the contractors required to perform EPC of the following units:

• High-pressure absorber and regenerator columns and internals
• Internals for high-pressure absorber and regenerator
• Molecular sieve adsorber
• Air-cooled exchangers
• Centrifugal compressor
• Centrifugal horizontal pumps
• Cooling water refrigeration
• Instrument air compressor
• Gas turbine generator
• Steam turbine generator
• Waste heat recovery boilers
• Power transformers 132/33kV
• Integrated control and safety system
• Tie-ins with Meram units and existing Habshan-5 facilities
• Associated civil works, including grading works, road works and fencing

Estidama package 5, won by Petrofac, broadly covers the upgrade of the Habshan gas processing complex, and includes the EPC of the following units:

• Booster station
• Variable frequency drive motor-driven compressors
• New compressor trains
• High-pressure gas discharge units
• Fibre optic cables and other communication equipment
• Control systems
• Safe and security systems

Petrofac is currently involved with several key projects involving the Habshan gas processing complex. The London-listed contractor won the main EPC contract for Estidama package 2 in July 2023. The scope of work on the $720m contract involves building a new facility at the KP-30 location of the Habshan gas compressor plant and installing three variable-frequency drive motor-driven compressors.

Separately, Adnoc Gas awarded Petrofac a $615m EPC contract in October 2023 for the carbon dioxide (CO2) recovery project at the Habshan complex. The planned Habshan carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) facility will have the capacity to capture and permanently store 1.5 million tonnes a year (t/y) of CO2 within geological formations deep underground.

The scope of work on Estidama package 8, won by China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering, involves building a gas transport pipeline in two sections.

The first segment of the pipeline will be a 56-inch suction line that runs 26km from the LNG pre-conditioning plant at the Habshan-5 facility to the Habshan gas processing complex. The second section is a larger portion of the pipeline. The 52-inch, high-pressure discharge line will run 155km from the KP-30 station at the Habshan gas processing complex to the upcoming Ruwais LNG facility.

Ruwais LNG terminal project

The upcoming LNG export terminal in Ruwais will have the capacity to produce about 9.6 million t/y of LNG from two processing trains, each with a capacity of 4.8 million t/y. When the project is commissioned, Adnoc’s LNG production capacity will more than double to about 15 million t/y.

Adnoc awarded the full EPC contract to the consortium of Technip Energies, JGC Corporation and NMDC Energy and achieved the final investment decision for the Ruwais LNG terminal complex in June last year.

The complex will also feature process units, storage tanks and an export jetty for loading cargoes and LNG bunkering, as well as utilities, flare handling systems and associated buildings.

Separately, Adnoc has also signed agreements with international energy companies to divest a total stake of 40% in the Ruwais LNG project.

UK energy producer BP, Mitsui & Co, Shell and French energy producer TotalEnergies will each hold 10% stakes in the Ruwais LNG terminal project, with Adnoc retaining the majority 60% stake in the facility.

Adnoc Gas will acquire its parent’s 60% stake in the Ruwais LNG facility, at cost, in the second half of 2028, when first production from the complex is due.

Along with awarding EPC contracts for the LNG pre-conditioning plant, the new compression facilities at the Habshan complex and the gas feedstock transmission pipeline, Adnoc Gas announced that capital expenditure on the three packages does not form part of the costs previously outlined by the company for its intended acquisition of Adnoc Group’s majority stake in the Ruwais LNG project.

The capex on the three projects forms part of Adnoc Gas’ $15bn capex portfolio until 2029.