Bechtel, ConocoPhillips to build gas facility in Angola

Bechtel Group Incorporated (San Francisco, California) and ConocoPhillips (Houston, Texas) have been awarded the contract in competitive bidding for Angola LNG Limited's first gas-liquefaction facility that will be near Soyo in Zaire Province on the Atlantic coast of the West African country. The contract also contains an agreement for the utilization of ConocoPhillips' Optimized CascadeSM Process (COCP) in the development of the project.

In December 2007, Angola LNG entered into an investment contract with the Angolan government and the state-owned Sonangol covering gas supply, gas sales and regasification agreements to finalize the commercial requirements of the project. Offshore-sourced gas will be transported to the LNG plant. Benefits flowing from the project will include the reduction of gas flaring and greenhouse gas emissions from offshore oil production areas, continued offshore oil field development and the development of a natural-gas-based industry in Angola.

The LNG project, representing the largest investment ever made in Angola, will receive about 1 billion cubic feet of associated gas per day from the offshore production blocks and will produce 5.2 million tons per annum of LNG. There are plans to treat up to 125 million cubic feet of gas per day for use in industrial projects. The scope of the project will include storage for LNG liquefied petroleum gas and condensate and a loading jetty to accommodate vessels up to 210,000 cubic meters. A subsidiary of Bechtel will construct the plant.

Jim Rockwell, ConocoPhillips' LNG technology and licensing manager, said the design demonstrates the flexibility of COCP to utilize GE Frame 6 and Frame 7 drivers in a unique way that delivers cost improvements while still maintaining the operating advantages of the two-trains-in-one reliability.

The first LNG from the project is expected to be delivered to the U.S. natural gas market in early 2012 through the Clean Energy regasification terminal near Pascagoula, Mississippi, that is under development by Gulf LNG Energy.

Stakes in the Angola LNG project are held by Sonangol Gas Natural (36.4 percent), Chevron (36.4 percent), BP 13.6 percent) and Total (13.6 percent).

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