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Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabian officials refrained from commenting yesterday on the report referring to the kingdom's objection to the Dolphin gas pipeline project on the grounds that it passes through Saudi territory. "National Bank of Abu Dhabi comes as the last in the chain, as the Saudi government has been communicating with the other parties, including Occidental and Total, for a couple of weeks," said Raja Kiwan, senior research analyst at Energy Intelligence. Both companies refused to comment on the report, saying that the response of Dolphin was sufficient at this stage and "we are not stating anything other than what Dolphin has released," according to an Occidental spokesperson. A Total media official said, "The matter now is involving two states, it is not a corporate issue."
The two companies are to announce their first half results soon, "And it is not likely that such an issue will affect the results. However, in the longer term, if the problem escalates it might of course affect the business," said the Total spokesperson. However, "the Dolphin project is at a very advanced stage at this point," said Kiwan, with many analysts dismissing the possibility that it might be halted at this stage. The two governments have been indirectly addressing the issue since their last official talks in 2005, with the kingdom having a precedent of interfering with regional projects, such as the Qatar and Kuwait ventures. The UAE has issued a map that indicates the disputed border area as its territory, a move that has never produced an official reaction from Saudi Arabia - in particular the two pieces of land in the South and West of the disputed area. "The Saudi government's approach to avoiding official channels indicates the low profile it intended for the move, and the project will most likely go ahead, as it can be within a mutual compromise, since the UAE does have reservations regarding the Saudi acquisition of the Al Shayba oilfield within the disputed area," said a Dubai based political analyst on condition of anonymity. "The reports claiming that the issue will be pushed further for international arbitration are exaggerating a contained situation."
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