Italy-Japan duo lift $4.5m Algeria LNG job
Algeria's state-run energy player Sonatrach has handed a €2 billion ($4.49 million) contract to build a liquefied natural gas plant Italy's Saipem/Snamprogetti in a joint venture with Japanese outfit Chiyoda.
The lump sum turnkey job covers the building of a LNG train in the western Mediterranean port of Arzew with capacity of 4.7 million tonnes per year, the statement said, confirming a report last week by Upstream.
The contract covers the engineering, procurement and construction of a single-train gas liquefaction plant, Saipem said in a statement.
The project, to be 100% financed by Sonatrach and to be fed by gas from Algeria's Gassi Touil and Rhourd Nouss gas fields, is part of Algeria's plans to raise gas exports to 85 billion cubic metres per year in 2012 from 62 billion cubic metres at present.
The plant is to be built in 48 months under the terms of the contract, which was signed on Saturday, said Sonatrach.
Sonatrach had provisionally awarded the work to a consortium of UK player Petrofac and Indonesia's IKPT on 12 July for the construction of a plant with a production capacity of 4.3 million tonnes per year.
Sonatrach at the time gave the two companies 10 days to provide guarantees they could build the train in 50 months within the price they had offered.
But on 22 July Sonatrach announced documents subsequently submitted by Petrofac and IKPT did not meet Sonatrach's requirements and Sonatrach would open discussions on the work with the Snamprogetti-Chiyoda consortium, the runners-up in the tender competition, Reuters reported.