KBR Wins Gulf Coast LNG Project

KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) has won the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract as lead contractor for Phase 1 of the Plaquemines LNG export project under development in Plaquemines Parish, La., developer Venture Global LNG, Inc. reported Monday.

“KBR has an exceptional record in the LNG industry, having designed and delivered approximately a third of the liquefaction capacity worldwide,” Venture Global Executive Co-Chairman and CEO Mike Sabel remarked in a written statement emailed to Rigzone. “They recognize that our innovation of mid-scale, modular trains manufactured in a factory setting and delivered complete to site is revolutionizing this industry.”

Under the EPC contract KBR will integrate highly modularized, owner-furnished equipment for the Plaquemines facility, which will be located along the Mississippi River south of New Orleans. Boasting a nameplate liquefaction capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), Plaquemines LNG will use systems identical to those already delivered and installed at Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass project in southwestern Louisiana, the company noted.

Earlier this month, Venture Global announced the first two factory-fabricated liquefaction trains had arrived at the Calcasieu Pass site from a Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR) manufacturing facility in Italy.

“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,” continued Sabel. “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.”

According to Venture Global, the Plaquemines LNG project has already received all necessary regulatory approvals. In addition, the firm stated it has signed binding 20-year offtake agreements with PGNiG (WSE: PGN) and EDF (OTCMKTS: ECIFY) for a combined 3.5 mtpa of the project’s capacity.

“As we approach the commencement of early site works for Plaquemines LNG, we are excited to use the experience gained at Calcasieu Pass – where we are already connecting our first liquefaction trains – to further improve upon the successful approach we’ve developed,” commented Bob Pender, Venture Global executive co-chairman.

To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.