Voestalpine Wins Major Supply Contract for 114 km Natural Gas Pipeline Project in UAE
In difficult marketing conditions the Voestalpine Group has been awarded a contract by the National Gas and Industrialization Company (GASCO) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to supply 95,000 tons of premium line pipe plates for the 114 km high - pressure Integrated Gas Development Pipeline (IGD-E) project in Abu Dhabi.
The project will transport sour gas from the Arabian Gulf to Abu Dhabi, where demand for natural gas has been growing at 15 percent annually. Delivery for the project begins next month and will continue until March 2016. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2017.
Voestalpine noted that the challenge of the IGD-E natural gas project lies in the need to transport sour, i.e. unrefined, gas. This places extreme quality demands on the transport pipeline itself. Production of the linepipe plates is regarded as highly quality-critical: The pipes require especially thick walls of 42 to 46 mm in order to withstand extreme operating pressures, as well as the necessary material strength. According to Herbert Eibensteiner, Member of the Management Board of Voestalpine AG and Head of the Steel Division, "only a very few manufacturers worldwide are able to meet these particular specifications. This major contract not only ensures capacity utilization at our plants over the coming months, it also confirms our position as the global market leader in this demanding product segment.”