US$2.9bn LNG contract for Hyundai consortium

A CONSORTIUM led by South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction has won the US$2.93bn contract to build LNG facilities in Al-Zour, Kuwait.

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the facilities, for Kuwait National Petroleum, will include regasification facilities, docks and LNG tanks. The two other companies in the consortium are Hyundai Engineering and Korea Gas.

The Korea Times reports that the regasification facility will have the capacity to process 3bn m³/d of gas, while the eight LNG storage tanks will each have a capacity of 225,000 m³.

The biggest share of the contract, US$1.52bn, to build the LNG tanks and coastal facilities, including docks, will be carried out by Hyundai E&C. Hyundai Engineering, with a US$1.39bn share in the contract, will construct the regasification plants. Korea Gas, with a US$210m share, will carry out trial operations.

“Due to the decline in oil price and weakened purchase power in the area, the bidding in Kuwait had been delayed since 2014. [South Korean] President Park's visit to the Middle East including Kuwait in March 2015, however, boosted our negotiation so that we could successfully finalise the deal,” a Hyundai E&C official told the Korea Times.

The project is expected to be completed by 2020.