TotalEnergies, Shell, BP and Mitsui & Co have reached an agreement to invest in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s (ADNOC) Ruwais LNG plant, reported Bloomberg, citing sources.
The four global companies will each acquire a 10% stake in the proposed LNG export terminal in Al Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, the sources said.
The official announcement of the deal could come as early as next week, they added.
ADNOC, Shell and TotalEnergies representatives declined to offer a comment to the publication.
A request for comment from bp did not elicit a response while a Mitsui representative indicated that a decision had not yet been reached.
With their investment, the energy companies hope to benefit from the long-term demand for natural gas, despite increasing global interest in transitioning to more environmentally friendly options.
Even though the prices of fuel have moderated from their peaks two years ago, they are still high, which makes new supply projects more appealing.
Currently, the United Arab Emirates has the capacity to export 5.8mtpa of LNG.
With two liquefaction trains and a combined capacity of 9.6mtpa, the Ruwais LNG project is expected to more than double that capacity to almost 15mtpa.
Last month, ADNOC announced the FID for the LNG project and awarded a $5.5bn (Dh20.2bn) engineering, procurement and construction contract for the same.
A group led by Technip Energies, with JGC Corporation and NMDC Energy as partners, has been awarded the contract.
In May, ADNOC agreed to buy a 10% equity stake from Galp in the Area 4 concession in Mozambique's Rovuma basin as part of its ambition to increase its worldwide LNG footprint.
The deal with Galp followed that acquisition of an 11.7% stake in the US, Texas-based Rio Grande LNG project.
