The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is to increase its gas import capacity, Customs Today reported.

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UAE energy minister Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazroui will increase the country's capacity to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), "to provide flexibility for power generation", and take advantage of lower prices for LNG, Customs Today said.

A floating regasification import facility at Jebel Ali port in Dubai will be upgraded from its current 3 million tonnes annual capacity, to cater for more imports, Al Mazroui told Customs Today.

The UAE is also building an LNG import facility at Fujairah port. This will be capable of supplying 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of gas, which will be used primarily for power generation, according to the website of development and investment company Mubadala Petroleum.  

Once the facility is completed Emirates LNG, a joint venture between Mubadala and International Petroleum Investment Company, will import LNG cargo from the international market.

Al Mazroui said that more capacity will be added to the Dolphin pipeline, which feeds gas from Qatar to power and desalination plants at Fujairah. The UAE is also developing its own gas resources including sour gas fields, Shah and Bab, Customs Today reported.

LNG is created by cooling natural gas to -162°C, at which point it condenses, according to Shell. The liquefied gas is 600 times smaller in volume, making it easier to store and transport.

When the clear, colourless liquid reaches its destination, it is returned to a gas at a regasification plant such as the new facility at Jebel Ali port.

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