Dana Gas and 'Emarat' commence joint operations

The project involves jointly developing the region's first common-user pipeline for gas transportation to power stations and industrial customers, and will be built, owned and operated jointly by the two companies in a fifty-fifty partnership.

The first phase of the project involved the construction of a 10-inch pipeline connected by a hot-tap to an existing 'Emarat' pipeline and pressure-reducing station, and will deliver gas to the new Hamriyah power station of the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA). A joint team from Dana Gas and 'Emarat' managed the operation to its successful completion on time by the end of last month and the valves have now been opened at a ceremony attended by senior representatives from the two companies, who will be the owners and the operators of the new pipeline.

'We are very pleased with the progress of this project - our first in collaboration with 'Emarat', which is an established and experienced gas pipeline operator in the UAE', said Mr. Rashid Saif Al-Jarwan, General Manager of Dana Gas. 'The partnership with 'Emarat' has proven very successful, and we look forward to expanding this relationship in the future with further collaborative projects.'

Mr. Rashid Al-Shamsi, General Manager of 'Emarat', added: 'This project is an excellent example of cooperation between a public sector company, a private sector company, and the government, both at the Federal and State levels, for the benefit of the local economies in power generation and industrial development.'

The main remaining phase of the project will entail the construction of a 48-inch gas pipeline which will connect the gas hub of Sharjah at Sajaa to the fast-growing industrial area at Hamriyah, a distance of 32 kms. With a capacity of 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day, the pipeline will be one of the largest in the UAE, and upon its expected completion at the end of this year, it will be used to deliver both domestic and imported gas supplies for the three users: SEWA, FEWA and CNGCL, the gas marketing affiliate of Dana Gas. The pipe material pipeline has already been ordered from Japan and shall arrive on site by September of this year.

In a regional collaborative effort, the engineering for the first phase of the project was undertaken by Worley Parsons from Abu Dhabi, the main construction contractor was Dutco McConnel Dowell of Dubai, and the pipeline material was supplied and coated by Al Qahtani Group of Saudi Arabia.

Dana Gas Expansion Plans

Commenting on the ongoing plans and projects of Dana Gas, Mr. Rashid Al-Jarwan said: 'Dana Gas is now actively evaluating and pursuing a number of opportunities in the natural gas sector, in line with the strategic guidelines set out by the Board of Directors. These are in several member countries of the GCC, and across the wider Middle East, including some North African countries and also Pakistan, and they range from gas exploration and production, through to downstream businesses and petrochemicals. Some of them are new project developments, while others are acquisitions of existing companies or projects, where we see a strategic fit for the company. We see a very strong growth in the natural gas industry throughout the region, which is driven by growing power generation requirements, and by industrial demand which adds value to the regional economies.