Project Dolphin

WWF-EWS: Tell us about your company, and how the name 'Dolphin' originated?

Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh: Dolphin Energy Limited was established in 1999 in Abu Dhabi as a unique strategic energy initiative for the region.

The company's mandate is to construct by 2006 a 48-inch, 400 km-plus pipeline between Qatar and the UAE - and to produce, process and then transport through this pipeline an initial 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

That gas will be needed throughout the UAE to supply future energy needs for the power stations and industrial projects that are in construction or on the drawing-boards. Abu Dhabi's own natural gas reserves are limited - over the decades ahead, the nation therefore requires this reliable long-term source of imported natural gas at competitive rates.

Dolphin Energy is 51 percent owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi through the wholly-owned Mubadala Development Company, and 24.5 percent each by Total of France and Occidental Petroleum of the USA.

As to our name...the story is unusual.

When this great project was still at the concept stage, we needed a "code name" to preserve commercial privacy while the venture was developed. The name chosen was Project Dolphin - we all admired the beauty and intelligence of these excellent creatures. When the time came for the formal company naming, no-one could come up with anything more imaginative!

Which projects are you engaged in, and have you considered their environmental implications?

Our principal venture, the "Dolphin Project" itself, has now reached a most exciting stage.

We have recently signed binding agreements with our initial clients in the UAE for supply of Dolphin gas from Qatar - Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA) and Union Water & Electricity Company (UWEC).

Then in January we made the first awards for construction and equipment to leading international contractors, who are beginning to mobilize for work later this year. The major award was for $1.6 billion to JGC Corporation of Japan - who will build our giant gas compression and processing plant at Ras Laffan in Qatar, an essential stage in the entire natural gas value chain. At Ras Laffan, we will extract large quantities of valuable condensates, LPGs and other valuable by-products.

Shortly, we will award the contract for the laying of the actual Export Pipeline across the Southern Arabian Gulf itself, to landfall at Taweelah in Abu Dhabi.

There are of course profound environmental considerations in both the construction of this large and complex plant, as well as the laying of the export pipeline in shallow Gulf waters.

Our team of health, safety and environmental experts have been working for over two years on policies and procedures that will meet the needs of the situation - and that will, rightly, satisfy the stringent environmental permit requirements of the Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR), the environmental authority in Qatar, and of ERWDA, the Abu Dhabi environmental body.

As an example, environmental considerations of great importance to the pipeline have included the precise pipeline route (to avoid coral, sensitive seabird colonies and fish breeding grounds), pipeline laying methods (to minimize local disturbances) and pipeline protection specifications (to ensure maximum strength and resistance to external corrosion or damage.

Our first project to come on stream, the Al Ain to Fujairah gas pipeline, was commissioned last month - and is now supplying some 135 million cubic feet of gas daily to the new power and desalination plant in Fujairah. In turn this plant will be contributing some 500 MW daily to the country's power supply, and around 100 million gallons a day of fresh water to the Northern Emirates and Al Ain. This is the first time that gas has flowed from one GCC nation to another!

We are initially taking natural gas from Oman to supply Fujairah - until our supplies from Qatar eventually come on line. We will thereafter be able to supply gas to Oman itself, as and when required.

Prior to construction of the 24-inch pipeline to Fujairah across 182 kilometers of desert and mountain, we conducted a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), base on the findings of the EIA, Dolphin sought - and was granted - the necessary approvals by the environmental authorities of Oman and all the individual Emirates whose territory has been traversed. All of us have been committed to the highest standards throughout.

Does your company have an environmental policy? What is it?
We have detailed company policies for Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE). All our senior management have signed this commitment to safeguarding the environment, and to minimizing health and safety risks to employees, contractors and members of all the communities where we operate.

The policy document sets out several "core values" which I feel are even more important to a new company like Dolphin than for established multi-nationals in the energy business. One particular key value, for us, provides for integration of quality, health, safety and environmental activities in all our business conduct.

These policies can appear merely as "fine words", can't they? That will not be the case at Dolphin, I can assure you.

We have openly ranked our commitment to quality and to protecting health, safety and the environment equally with all our other primary business objectives.
We are ready to be judged by results.

Which specific measures have been taken to minimize the threat to bio-diversity on account of the Dolphin Gas Project?
In the early stages of the project, Dolphin undertook environmental baseline and impact studies of those areas which could be affected by our development activities. The detailed scope of these studies had been discussed and agreed with the environmental regulators beforehand.

As noted previously, our plant site and pipeline route have been extensively surveyed to identify environmentally sensitive areas including turtle nesting beaches, corals and sea grass meadows, so that during development, we could avoid these areas entirely, or where construction must be undertaken, establish methods and programs to minimize impacts to flora and fauna.

A few examples, one of our efforts in Qatar will minimize impacts at the plant site and pipeline corridors by implementing programs to relocate natural flora and minimize impact on fauna by retaining or rehabilitating natural habit areas within our property boundary. Dolphin has committed to retaining a minimum of 5 % of our total plant area as natural or irrigated habitat.

Extensive efforts will also be made to protect and mitigate any potential impacts on the marine ecosystem during construction. Particular attention will be paid to turtle nesting areas by scheduling construction activities outside the turtle breeding and nesting season.

Dolphin is also supporting bio-diversity initiatives outside the boundaries of the Dolphin Project and has elected to sponsor WWF and ERWDA activities to study and map corals in UAE and Qatari waters.

This project includes the development of a coral conservation strategy to ensure the vital role corals play in sustaining bio-diversity is ensured for the benefit of future generations and meeting the Dolphin vision of sustainable and environmentally responsible development of energy resources.

What value do you place on being a corporate member of the WWF-UAE?
The World Wide Fund for Nature has generated immense respect internationally from industry and the general public -- because of its demonstrated commitment to wildlife and environmental protection, in a world where these are increasingly under threat.

Our membership and sponsorship of the UAE branch is a clear demonstration of our own commitment to your ideals -- as a company and as a team of professional people engaged in environmentally responsible industrial development.

Do you have a view of sustainable energy options in general and in particular for the UAE and other Gulf countries?
The concept of "sustainable energy" is vital today, when many natural resources - such as crude oil - will continue to decline throughout the century.

We can therefore expect the world energy industry to make extensive efforts to move away from oil - with its continuing pollution side-effects - and switch where possible to gas. Whether as LPG, LNG or compressed natural gas (as supplied by Dolphin Energy) gas is cleaner-burning that any oil product and leaves little or no residue.

There are very substantial quantities of natural gas available in Qatar and the Gulf, as well as in Egypt, Russia and other countries. A commitment to sustainable energy in the gas industry worldwide therefore offers real returns, if that commitment is expressed at all levels: production, processing and transportation.

Improved efficiencies, reduced emissions and careful conservation - as being shown, for example, in modern power and desalination plants such as that of UWEC in Fujairah - will play a vital role in sustainable energy policies in the years ahead.

It obviously makes sense for those of us in the energy industry to do all we can to extend the life of our oil and gas fields - every indication that I have seen in discussion with ministers and senior colleagues in the GCC shows their complete awareness of this need, and their collective commitment to sustainable energy.