The West Aims to Rebuild Influence in Middle East Energy Hub with LNG Deals

The last few days have seen the U.K.’s Shell and BP, Japan’s Mitsui, and France’s TotalEnergies each take a 10 percent stake in the huge Ruwais LNG (liquefied natural gas) liquefaction plant project run by the U.A.E.’s flagship energy firm, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). The 9.6 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) has also seen several offtake and other agreements signed with Western firms (including Shell, Mitsui, and Germany’s Energie Baden-Württemberg and Securing Energy for Europe). Such deals…