Abu Dhabi government-controlled investment firm Mubadala Development Co. plans to build a facility to import liquefied natural gas in Fujairah , as it seeks to meet growing energy demand in the United Arab Emirates .

Mubadala's oil and gas unit is working on a project with the aim of securing additional gas supplies to meet U.A.E. energy demand through the development of an LNG receiving facility located in Fujairah, the company said in an emailed statement Tuesday.

The emirates of Abu Dhabi and Fujairah are part of the seven-member U.A.E.

"The project feasibility study was completed last year and the project engineering phase has now commenced with the aim of delivering first supplies in the next 2-3 years," the statement added.

It wasn't clear where the LNG would be imported from and U.A.E. officials weren't immediately available for comment.

The project could be an attempt by the U.A.E. to avoid using the strategic Strait of Hormuz for LNG imports after Iran threatened to close the waterway--through which Persian Gulf producers export around one-fifth of the world's oil supplies.

The West has ratcheted up pressure on Iran to abandon its controversial nuclear program amid growing concern that the country is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has said that its nuclear program is for peaceful means.

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