UAE begins gas supplies to Japan under new deal

UAE begins gas supplies to Japan under new deal

ABU DHABI (AFP): The biggest gas tanker in the world has sailed from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Japan to deliver the first shipment of liquefied gas under a 25-year contract, officials said on Saturday.

Al-Khazna is among four tankers ordered by the UAE from Japan at a cost of US$600 million to cope with the sharp increase in supplies from the Das liquefaction plant following the completion of a major expansion project.

Another tanker, al-Shahama, will be received in October. Four other tankers are being built in Finland to replace the aging fleet of the Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company (ADGAS), which runs the Das facility.

ADGAS officials said al-Khazna was the biggest gas tanker in the world, with a capacity of around 137,000 tons. It sailed back to Japan last week with a shipment for the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which signed a long-term contract with ADGAS in 1990.

"It is a landmark event in ADGAS's expansion plans as it ushers in a sharp increase in our exports," ADGAS general manager Peter Kerr said in a speech at Das, off Abu Dhabi, quoted by the official UAE news agency Wam.