Gas grid for the Gulf

To help meet unprecedented gas-demand growth in the Mideast Gulf, two large supply projects are on the verge of start-up after a series of delays. However, while the Dolphin project is now on track, the Salman scheme remains deadlocked over gas price, writes Alex Forbes

ANYONE who has recently visited Dubai will have seen its mind-boggling rate of building construction. There are, it is said, more cranes per square kilometre of land in Dubai than anywhere else in the world. As the towers go up and fill up with people, energy use is set to rise commensurately. However, this assumes Dubai is able to source the fuels that it will need to meet rocketing demand from electricity generators, water-desalination companies and industry. Chief among these fuels is one that only a decade or two ago was seen as an inconvenient by-product of oil production – natural gas. The IMF recently said that while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has one of the highest economic growt