Dolphin Energy said it is ready to pump gas imported from Qatar to power stations on the UAE's east coast after completing a section of pipeline.

Dolphin imports 2 billion cubic feet per day (cfd) of gas from Qatar, meeting about a third of UAE demand. The UAE has failed to keep up with domestic demand for gas, despite sitting on the world's seventh-largest gas reserves.

Dolphin completed the 128 km (79.5 miles) section of pipeline 8 weeks behind scheduled due to delays in approval from authorities to build on the land, a company source said.

The completed section of pipeline would allow Dolphin to supply 350 million cfd to two power stations in the emirate of Fujairah on the east coast of the UAE. Utility Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company (ADWEC) operates the stations.

Dolphin is still working on another section of a cross-country pipeline to pump gas from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah, that it said last year would be completed in the third quarter 2010.

Mubadala Development Co, run by the government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, owns 51 per cent of Dolphin. France's Total and US Occidental Petroleum each have a 24.5 per cent stake.

Dolphin was the first cross-border gas project in the Gulf Arab region, and began importing gas from Oman to the UAE in 2004. Supplies from Qatar to the UAE began in 2007.-Reuters