Abu Dhabi’s national oil company ADNOC on Tuesday signed a 15-year long-term deal to supply gas from the UAE’s Ruwais LNG project to Japanese firm Inpex starting from 2028.
Under the deal, Inpex, Japan’s largest exploration and production company, will receive 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas from the Ruwais LNG project, currently under development in Al Ruwais Industrial City in Abu Dhabi.
The agreement “further strengthens the longstanding relationship between INPEX and the ADNOC Group,” the Japanese company said in a statement.
Inpex’s Vision 2035 plan includes strengthening the LNG portfolio and supplying LNG more flexibly to complement the LNG supply from its projects. The agreement with ADNOC, a long-standing partner, aligns with Inpex’s initiative to have a more diversified and flexible approach to LNG sourcing, the Japanese firm said.
The LNG for Inpex will be primarily sourced from ADNOC’s Ruwais LNG project, which is scheduled to start commercial operations in 2028.
To date, 90% of the Ruwais LNG project’s 9.6 mtpa production capacity has been committed to international buyers across Asia and Europe through long-term arrangements, ADNOC said.
ADNOC has been boasting for years that the planned Ruwais LNG project will be the first LNG export facility in the Middle East and Africa (MENA) region to operate on clean power, making it one of the lowest-carbon-intensity LNG plants in the world.
The deal with Inpex “builds on ADNOC’s decades-long energy partnership with Japan, advances the commercialization of Ruwais LNG and reinforces strong market confidence in the project,” said Nasser Al Muhairi, acting CEO of ADNOC Downstream Industry, Marketing & Trading, and chairman of Ruwais LNG.
Japan has recently moved to boost its long-term LNG supply procurement.
Last month, Japan’s top utility JERA signed a contract to receive LNG from Malaysia’s national oil and gas firm Petronas for a period of 20 years, starting in 2028.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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