JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA–(EMWNews – July 29, 2008) – Researched by Industrial Info

Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) — As more projects for gas-fired power

plants are announced in the Middle East, the gas resource, which once

seemed abundant and readily available, has now become a key factor in the

viability of industrial projects and development plans. At a time when

three new power projects have been announced, Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) (London)

has canceled or, at best, postponed a $3 billion aluminum smelter planned

for Abu Dhabi, as an official policy shift has given priority for natural

gas feeds to other industrial applications such as chemicals, fertilizers

and liquefied natural gas. In Jordan, Korea Electric Power Corporation

(NYSE:KEP) (Seoul, South Korea) has been awarded selected bidder status by

Jordan’s government to build a 373-MW gas-fired power plant in Al Quatrana.

The cancellation of the 700,000-ton-per-year Abu Dhabi smelter does not

mean that Rio Tinto is backing off of new projects in the Middle East or

elsewhere when the power-supply-production equation can be balanced.

According to report by Alcoa (NYSE:AA) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), with a

24% increase in aluminum prices in 2008, demand is forecast to double by

2020, which will require 80 new smelters each with an average production

capacity of 400,000 tons per year.

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