Germany and UAE sign a 15 year long agreement on LNG

German state-owned Securing Energy for Europe (Sefe) has signed an agreement with ADNOC, under which the Abu Dhabi-based national oil company will supply LNG to Germany for 15 years starting in 2028.

ADNOC signed the 15-year agreement with Sefe to supply 1 million metric tons per year (mmtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the UAE state-owned energy company said Monday.
The LNG deliveries will be made from ADNOC’s Ruwais LNG project, currently under development in Al Ruwais Industrial City, Abu Dhabi.

The Ruwais Plant is nearing completion.

The final LNG agreement is subject to the final investment decision on the project, including regulatory approvals, and the negotiation of a definitive sale and purchase agreement between the two companies, Sefe said in a separate statement today.

The Ruwais LNG project is expected to be the first LNG export facility in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to run on clean energy, making it one of the world’s lowest carbon-intensive LNG plants, says the German company, which was set up in 2022 after Germany bailed out a former Gazprom unit it expropriated in April with a multibillion-dollar loan.

This, on the one hand, is positive, but on the other hand, it seems to make one forget that, however, natural gas is extracted from Ruwais, which is then liquefied. So you are extracting a fossil energy source that produces carbon energy, and liquefying it will use energy that, however, could be used otherwise.

“We are delighted to be the first European company to secure LNG volumes from ADNOC’s low-carbon Ruwais LNG project, and we hope that this agreement will be the basis for a more intensive collaboration in LNG and low-carbon alternatives,” SEFE CEO Dr. Egbert Laege said in a statement.
For ADNOC, the agreement represents another export outlet for its LNG project, as the UAE giant seeks to play a larger role in global LNG supply, while for Sefe and Germany, the deal would represent another source of gas that would enhance their energy security.

Late last year, Sefe signed a natural gas supply agreement with Equinor, one of the largest natural gas supply deals ever for the Norwegian energy giant, worth an estimated $55 billion (50 billion euros).

Germany, in this way, is securing long-term supplies to meet its energy needs that come due until 2043. However, although covered with a “Green” veneer, these are carbon sources, and that makes one smile a bit