US liquefaction player Venture Global LNG has awarded KBR the engineering, procurement and construction contract for its Plaquemines liquefied natural gas export project in Louisiana.

Venture Global confirmed Tuesday it had awarded KBR the EPC contract for the first phase development of Plaquemines LNG, with KBR to integrate highly modularised, owner-furnished equipment for the 10 million tonnes per annum nameplate facility.

"KBR has an exceptional record in the LNG industry, having designed and delivered approximately a third of the liquefaction capacity worldwide,” said Venture Global chief executive Mike Sabel.

Plaquemines LNG will deploy Venture Global's liquefaction trains 19 through 36, identical to the 18 trains currently being fabricated and delivered to our Calcasieu Pass LNG project. This contract with KBR will allow us to bring a second world-class, mechanically complete LNG production facility to the market, on our schedule and budget."

The award of the EPC contract comes after it was reported last week Venture Global had pushed back a final investment decision on the Plaquemines LNG export project from 2020 until 2021, with output anticipated in 2024.

Venture Global has plans to eventually expand the capacity of the export project in Plaquemines Parish to 20 million tpa, with analysts estimating the total cost of the development at about $8.5 billion.

The development has received all required regulatory approvals and Venture Global has signed binding 20-year offtake agreements for 3.5 million tpa of the project’s capacity, with PGNiG (2.5 million tpa) and EDF (1 million tpa).

LNG

KBR scoops key contract for US LNG export project