Dolphin North Field gas pipeline

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Dolphin North Field gas pipeline is an existing natural gas pipeline, running from Dolphin Energy's two offshore rigs on the North Field to Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar.

Location

The pipeline runs from Dolphin Energy's two offshore rigs on the North Field to Ras Laffan Industrial City, Al Khor municipality, Qatar. From there the gas is delivered to UAE through the Dolphin Qatar-UAE Natural Gas Pipeline.

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Pipeline Details

• Operator: Dolphin Energy
• Parent Company: Mubadala Development Company (51%), Total (24.5%), Occidental Petroleum (24.5%)
• Capacity: 3,200 million cubic feet per day
• Length: 260 mile (364km)
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 2007

Background

The Dolphin Gas Project is one of the largest trans-border energy projects ever undertaken in the Middle East. The project brings natural gas from Qatar via pipeline to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The $7bn project has brought together three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations – UAE, Qatar and Oman – into an integrated regional energy network for the first time.

The first phase involved the development of two platforms in Qatar’s North field, two multi-phase offshore sealines to the processing facilities and the gas treatment and compression plants at Ras Laffan.

The second phase involved the construction of a 48in diameter, 260 mile (364km) subsea pipeline that carries gas to the UAE (cost $3.5bn). The second phase was completed in August 2006. The pipeline carried the first gas in 2007 and can carry up to two billion cubic feet of Qatar natural gas a day to the UAE for a period of 25 years. The operational capacity is expected to increase to transport up to 3.2 billion cubic feet a day, as customers join the project.

The EPC (design and installation) contract for the 364km subsea pipeline from Qatar to the UAE was awarded to Saipem (Italy) in March 2004. The pipeline is 48in in diameter, with a capacity of 3.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day. The pipeline exports natural gas between the gas processing plant at Ras Laffan and the receiving facilities terminal at Taweelah in the UAE. The line was laid during spring and early summer of 2006. Mitsui $ Company of Japan was awarded a contract for procurement of the line pipe for the project in January 2003. There were several objections from Saudi Arabia over the pipeline because of an ongoing border dispute with Qatar.