ADNOC looks into LNG bunkering in UAE

United Arab Emirates-based oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is studying options for LNG bunkering operations to serve its new LNG-fueled vessels.

ADNOC’s shipping and maritime logistics arm ADNOC Logistics & Services (L&S) is looking weather to support an LNG bunkering startup-up, Platts reports.

For the last couple of years, the company has been searching for a solution to serve the new LNG-fueled vessels. These include very large gas carriers (VLGCs) and very large crude carriers (VLCCs). ADNOC L&S’s fleet currently includes dual-fuel capacity, but the new orders will use only LNG. However, there are currently no options for LNG bunkering in UAE the region.

Samuel Lazar, manager at ADNOC L&S, told Platts that they asked the companies in the region for their plans in the maritime sector. This is how they came up with the idea of LNG bunkering as an entirely new business activity. He said that even cruise ships welcomed this and have now placed orders for LNG-fueled vessels. They did this in order to use a Middle East port for LNG fuel.

The start-up in question is considering locations of either Fujairah on the country’s east coast or Jebel Ali in Dubai. The company is already present in Fujairah with crude storage capacity.

Moreover, ADNOC recently joined another partnership is to accelerate Abu Dhabi’s position in the low-carbon fuels market. This was when Fertiglobe, a strategic partnership between OCI and ADNOC, joined the blue ammonia production project at TA’ZIZ. Then, Japan’s Mitsui and Korea’s GS Energy also hopped on. To remind, this clean fuel is made from nitrogen and “blue” hydrogen derived from natural gas feedstocks.