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Wednesday, 07 January, 2009, 20:30 GMT | more >>

Yards vie for Pluto prizes



By Upstream staff 

J Ray McDermott and Thailand's STP&I Sino-Thai are front-runners for fabrication jobs on offer for Woodside Petroleum's Pluto liquefied natural gas processing plant, according to reports.

Other yards vying for the $200 million plus fabrication contracts are Malaysia Marine & Heavy Engineering (MMHE) and Singapore's SembCorp Marine's SMOE yard.

Sources at McDermott's, STP&I and MMHE confirmed to Reuters that they are in the final stages of negotiation, with a letter of intent expected shortly.

"Obviously (we) are in with a good chance of receiving the fabrication contracts, as we have the experience, whereas STP&I's yard is relatively new," a source at McDermott told the news agency.

McDermott's Indonesian yard recently completed the fabrication of the modules for the fifth LNG liquefaction train at the Woodside-operated Karratha gas plant in Australia.

Woodside said its proposed A$10 billion (US$8.7 billion) Pluto project, which is aiming for first deliveries by late 2010, will reach a final investment decision within the next two months.

Pluto, off the coast of Western Australia, is estimated to hold 4.1 trillion cubic feet of gas and would have a processing capacity of 5 million to 6 million tonnes per annum.

The gas processing plant will be fabricated and pre-assembled before being shipped to Australia, so logistics will factor heavily in deciding which yard will be chosen.

"Atlantic Gulf and Pacific's fabrication yard were said to have submitted the best price and quality package, but their location in the Philippines is no good in terms of logistics," a source close to the negotiations told Reuters.

Woodside is expected to award the fabrication package in two parts. The primary modules contract, comprising about 70% of the pre-assemblies, will go to one yard and the secondary modules contract to another.

Singapore's SembCorp Marine was less optimistic about winning.

"I believe (we) have lost the contract, and understand Foster Wheeler will recommend McDermott's and STP&I to receive a package each," a senior manager at SMOE told Reuters.

Foster Wheeler, together with Australia's Worley Parsons, are carrying out the front end engineering and design work for the Pluto liquefaction facility.

"It's almost a given that Foster Wheeeler will be awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract once Woodside announces a final investment decision," a source close to the project told the new agency.


Friday, 20 July, 2007, 09:44 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 20 July, 2007, 09:44 GMT

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