Dolphin Energy seeks more gas from Qatar

Dolphin Energy, the Abu Dhabi firm that imports gas from Qatar, is in talks with Qatar Petroleum to increase its gas supply by up to 15 per cent. The Qatari national oil company said it might be able to increase the gas it supplied Dolphin under interruptible contracts to as much as 400 million cubic feet per day from about 90 million cfd currently.

"Discussions concerning any additional supply and the final amount of natural gas supplied have not been finalised. It is hoped that any agreement will be secured by the third quarter of 2010," it said. Dolphin, which is controlled by the Abu Dhabi Government investment conglomerate Mubadala Development, imports another 2 billion cfd of gas under a long-term supply contract with Qatar Petroleum. It distributes its gas to customers in the UAE and Oman.

Since starting the imports in late 2007 through an undersea pipeline from Qatar to Taweelah, on the coast of Abu Dhabi, Dolphin has sought to increase their volume. The pipeline has the capacity to transport up to 3.2 billion cfd of gas. Dolphin would have no trouble finding buyers for additional gas in a region short of the fuel for power and industrial plants. Qatar, however, is in the middle of a huge expansion of its export facilities for liquefied natural gas and has had little excess gas available for the pipeline. The emirate has also placed a moratorium on new gas production from its North Field, the world's largest gas deposit.

Dolphin's other partners are the French energy group Total and the US oil and chemicals firm Occidental Petroleum. @Email:[e-mail]