Bloomberg: U.A.E. Seeks More Natural Gas From Qatar Via Dolphin Pipeline

The United Arab Emirates, which needs natural gas to meet surging domestic demand, wants to import more fuel from Qatar through the Dolphin pipeline, Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said.

The U.A.E. also will boost imports of liquefied natural gas and develop its own deposits of high-sulfur, or sour, gas, he said yesterday at an industry presentation in Abu Dhabi. The country’s energy subsidies will become unsustainable because these sources of fuel are more expensive than gas produced from conventional fields, Mazrouei said.

“We expect to see a significant shift in the supply dynamics of gas” within the next 10 years, he said.

The U.A.E. needs gas to generate electricity for a growing population and expanding energy-intensive industries such as aluminum and steel. The country is the fifth-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and Abu Dhabi holds most of the nation’s oil. MORE