Stroytransgaz wins Dolphin contract

Dolphin Energy awards a $418m contract for construction of a trans-UAE gas pipeline to Russia's Stroytransgaz.

Pipeline: The 240km Dolphin pipeline would be one of the longest in the UAE.
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Dolphin Energy, the Abu Dhabi gas company, has awarded a US$418 million (Dh1.53 billion) contract for construction of a trans-UAE gas pipeline to Russia's biggest oil and gas construction company, Stroytransgaz. The contract is the Russian company's first major deal in the UAE, extending its reach in the Middle East - a region in which Moscow has been seeking to deepen its political and economic influence.

The 240km Dolphin pipeline would be one of the longest in the UAE, extending across desert and mountains from Taweelah, on Abu Dhabi's coast, to Qidfa in Fujairah. It would carry gas imports from Qatar directly to the UAE's east coast, where the gas is urgently needed to fuel power plants. Dolphin imports two billion cubic feet per day of gas from Qatar via an undersea pipeline, landing it at receiving facilities in Taweelah. The gas is distributed through overland pipelines to customers in several emirates.

Last month, the company awarded a contract worth more than $200m to Salzgitter Mannesmann International, a German steel fabricator, to supply about 120,000 tonnes of pipe for construction of the new gas transmission line. To date, more than 40 per cent of the pipe lengths for the project had been received, with the rest expected by early next year, Dolphin said. Stroytransgaz beat four international rivals to win the deal. The other firms bidding on the contract were Al Jaber Energy Services from the UAE, Consolidated Contractors International from Greece, Dodsal from India and Saipem-Snamprogetti from Italy.

Since 2006, Stroytransgaz has won $2.7bn of contracts to build two major pipelines and a gas processing plant in Syria. Last year, it won a $100m contract in Saudi Arabia to build a 200km oil pipeline for Saudi Aramco. It also has a longstanding strategic agreement with Saudi Oger, a construction firm. @Email:tcarlisle@thenational.ae