One other group - Japan's JGC Corporationwith the US' Kellogg Brown & Root - submitted commercial bids in late June for the $3,000 million-3,500 million contract. The Chiyoda/Technip team is already working on a similar-sized contract atRas Laffan for Qatar Liquefied Gas Company II (Qatargas II), having been awarded its two-mega train order last December (MEED 17:12:04).

An award is also approaching for the main upstream package.Two fabricators - Jebel Ali-based J Ray McDermott Middle East and Abu Dhabi's National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC)- submitted commercial bids on 21 July for the estimated $300 million engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning (EPIC) contract. It centres on the supply of two topsides and the installation of a 38-inch-diameter, 100-kilometre-long gas pipeline, cabling, a power cable and flowlines. The other main EPC package out to tender on the project involves the construction of a gas receiving terminal in Texas (MEED 12:8:05).

The RasGas III project is due to start delivering gas into the US in late 2008. RasGas II is a 70:30 joint venture of Qatar Petroleum and the US' ExxonMobil Corporation.