Four international groups are prequalified to price the contract. They are: Paris-based Technip-Coflexip,with the US' Bechtel; JGC Corporation of Japan; Italy's Saipem,with South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company; and Japan's Chiyoda Corporation,with Snamprogetti of Italy.

Three sets of technical proposals - covering joint venture agreement, tender validity, detailed project work and bid endorsement - are due to be submitted on 31 March, 21 May and 15 June. The EPC package, worth $1,200 million-1,500 million, covers the gas compression and treatment facilities at Ras Laffan. The proposed facilities will handle about 2,600 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas. The Dolphin project involves the supply of at least 3,000 million cf/d of Qatari gas from the offshore North field to the UAE through a 370-440 kilometre, 48-inch-diameter subsea pipeline.

In late January, DEL announced that a letter of intent had been issued to Japan's Mitsui & Company to supply the gas export pipeline. The selection of Mitsui came two months after three international pipeline manufacturers priced the estimated $200 million contract.

The estimated $3,500 million Dolphin project will be carried out in several packages. DEL is close to finalising the prequalification for two upstream packages - EPC platforms and the subsea pipeline from the new platforms to the proposed compression plant at Ras Laffan.

Contract awards are awaited on four other long-lead item packages, covering the supply of compressors and gas turbines, heat recovery generators and auxiliary boilers.

Iran South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction Companyis well ahead of schedule on the project to build the onshore facilities for phases 4-5 of the South Pars offshore gas development scheme, having completed 24 per cent of its contract. The company says work has already been completed on the site's foundations, with buildings, substations, pipe racks and flare stacks now under construction. Hyundai won the estimated $1.2 million subcontract to build the onshore plant from Italy's Eni, the buyback developer of the two phases, in 2002. The onshore plant will comprise a 2,000 million-cubic-feet-a-day (cf/d) gas treatment plant and related facilities. Hyundai will also build butane and propane production and storage facilities. The project is due to come on stream in 2005. The South Korean firm last year completed the construction of a similar plant on South Pars phases 2-3 for France's TotalFinaElf(MEED 24:1:03, Cover Story).