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Adnoc Gas, the natural gas processing business of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Group), has selected contractors to participate in an engineering design update competition for a project to install a fifth natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation train at its Ruwais gas processing facility in Abu Dhabi.

The fifth NGL fractionation train will have an output capacity of 22,000 tonnes a day (t/d) or about 8 million tonnes a year.

Adnoc Gas has adopted the design update competition model to deliver the Ruwais NGL Train 5 project, MEED previously reported.

The design update competition model involves the project operator selecting contractors to execute the front-end engineering and design (feed) work on the project. The operator selects the contractor with the most competitive feed proposal to execute engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on the project, while also compensating the other contestants for their work.

According to sources, Adnoc Gas has selected the following contractors to perform feed work on the Ruwais NGL Train 5 project as part of the design update competition:

• JGC Corporation (Japan)
• Technip Energies (France)
• Tecnimont (Italy)

Adnoc Gas has held kick-off meetings with each of the selected contractors to brief them about the project’s scope of work, as per sources.

Contractors submitted technical bids for the project by 15 November, while commercial bids were submitted by 29 November, MEED earlier reported.

In addition to the three contractors selected by Adnoc Gas to participate in the design update contest, the other bidders for the project were a consortium of UK-based Petrofac and South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction, and Spanish contractor Tecnicas Reunidas.

The scope of work on the Ruwais NGL Train 5 project covers the EPC of the following units:

• NGL fractionation plant with a capacity of 22,000 t/d, including NGL fractionation facilities, downstream treatment units, sulphur recovery units, products storage, loading facilities and associated utilities, flares and interconnection pipelines with existing facilities
• Two propane liquefied petroleum gas storage tanks and one paraffinic naphtha storage tank
• Buildings – a central control building, outstations, substations and plant amenities
• Electrical power connections. Power is to be sourced from the nearby Transco substation via a direct underground cable to the plot location

Adnoc Gas requires the feed on the project to be updated based on the design of the Ruwais NGL Train 4, which has an output capacity of 27,000 t/d and was commissioned in 2014.

MEED previously reported that Adnoc Gas issued the expression of interest (EoI) document for the feed-to-EPC competition on 28 February, with contractors submitting their responses to the EoI document by the deadline of 11 March.

Adnoc Gas business

Adnoc Group announced the creation of Adnoc Gas through the merger of its subsidiaries Adnoc Gas Processing and Adnoc LNG in November 2022. Adnoc Gas began operating as a commercial entity from 1 January 2023.

The consolidation of Adnoc’s gas processing and liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations into Adnoc Gas has created one of the world’s largest gas-processing entities, with a processing capacity of about 10 billion standard cubic feet of gas a day across eight onshore and offshore sites, which include its Asab, Bab, Bu Hasa, Habshan and Ruwais plants.

The company also owns a 3,250-kilometre gas pipeline network to supply feedstock to its customers across the UAE. This sales gas pipeline network is being expanded to over 3,500km through the estimated $3bn Estidama megaproject.

In December 2021, MEED reported that the erstwhile Adnoc Gas Processing had awarded Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering the main contract for a project to enhance the capacity of its NGL trains 1-4 at the Ruwais complex.

Financial performance

Adnoc Gas announced a net profit of $1.24bn for the third quarter of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 11%.

The company’s third-quarter revenue was recorded at $6.28bn, up 8% year-on-year, as higher product prices offset a drop in domestic sales volumes.

Free cashflow in the third quarter fell 9% year-on-year from $1.31bn to $1.18bn, as capital expenditure increased 45% to $503m.

For the first nine months of 2024, Adnoc Gas registered a net income of $3.62bn, up 18% year-on-year, excluding a non-recurring gain of $298m from recognising a deferred tax asset.

Adnoc Gas is working to increase its natural gas processing capacity by 20% within the next five years, for which it has been allocated a $15bn capital expenditure portfolio until 2029.

The company expects its capex in 2024 to be in the range of $1.9bn-$2.2bn.

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

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