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How to Start an Industrial and Liquefied Natural Gas Trading Business with Meydan Free Zone
Every LNG cargo leaving Das Island, every pipeline gas delivery to a UAE power plant, and every industrial customer running boilers or process heaters on natural gas connects back to the UAE's industrial gas trading layer. According to Dubai Petrol Station1, the UAE currently exports around 6 MTPA of LNG from Das Island and plans to grow this to approximately 15 MTPA by 2030, anchored by the Ruwais LNG project (9.6 MTPA across two liquefaction trains) which took FID in mid-2024.
ADNOC is signing long-term supply agreements with Chinese, Indian, European, and other international buyers as global LNG demand expands2. A wholesaler in this activity is the firm that trades industrial gas and LNG between producers, traders, and end-users.
For an industrial and LNG trader setting up in this activity, three dynamics define the UAE market. First, export capacity is expanding sharply: Dubai Petrol Station1 reports the UAE growing LNG export capacity from 6 MTPA at Das Island today to approximately 15 MTPA by 2030, with Ruwais LNG adding 9.6 MTPA in two trains powered by clean energy.
Second, the buyer network is increasingly global: Offshore Energy2 reports ADNOC signing multi-year supply agreements with ENN (15-year, 1 MTPA from Ruwais), RWE (up to 1 MTPA for Germany and Europe), plus Shell, EnBW, SEFE, and Chinese state traders, positioning UAE-based gas trading for both long-term offtake and spot market participation. Third, domestic industrial demand runs in parallel: UAE power generation, petrochemical processing, and industrial manufacturing pull pipeline gas continuously, with ADNOC Gas operating infrastructure that includes the Habshan complex at 6.1 billion standard cubic feet per day capacity.
Whether you are trading LNG cargoes to international offtakers, supplying pipeline gas to UAE industrial customers, or running spot and term trading operations across natural gas categories, this activity covers the industrial and LNG trading layer.
Meydan Free Zone offers 100% foreign ownership, zero corporate tax on qualifying income, and a fully digital licensing process, positioning industrial and LNG traders at the centre of a market where UAE LNG export expansion, global gas demand growth, and regional industrial gas consumption are generating sustained trade flows across pipeline, cargo, and industrial delivery formats.
4669.84: Industrial & Liquefied Natural Gas Trading
Under this activity, you are licensed to trade industrial gas and liquefied natural gas between producers, offtakers, and end-users.
However, this activity has defined boundaries. It excludes collection of household and industrial waste, treatment of waste aimed at disposal rather than onward industrial use, processing of waste and scrap into secondary raw material through a real transformation process, dismantling of automobiles, computers, televisions and other equipment for materials recovery, shredding of cars by mechanical process, ship-breaking, and retail sale of second-hand goods.
In short: if you trade industrial gas or LNG between producers, offtakers, and end-users you are in.
Who is this for?
Activity Details
Third-Party Approval
This business activity requires approval from the Supreme Council of Energy (SCOE) prior to obtaining the trading license.
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
This business activity is exempt from AML compliance requirements.
References
- ¹ Dubai Petrol Station. (2026). LNG Development Projects in UAE: Export Capacity and Market Opportunities. dubaipetrolstation.com
- ² Offshore Energy. (2026, February 9). ADNOC and RWE diving into new LNG opportunities. offshore-energy.biz
