Algeria’s state-run energy company Sonatrach has awarded Italian contractor Maire Tecnimont an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the fourth train of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG 4) plant of its planned Hassi Messaoud refinery.

The value of the contract for LPG 4 is $248m.

The Hassi Messaoud refinery project is being built inside the existing ZCINA facility, located in the Hassi Messaoud area in central Algeria.

The scope of the project requires the implementation of a new train with the capacity to process: 8 million standard cubic meters a day of LPG; and condensate extracted from the associated gas that comes from existent plants in the nearby ZCINA facility, outside the battery limits.

Maire Tecnimont has been awarded a provisional EPC contract, which is to be executed on a lump sum basis.

"The provisional award is expected to be confirmed soon after finalisation of the contract... [is annexed] with the client [Sonatrach], and is subject to the final award notice of the project by Sonatrach," Maire Tecnimont said in a statement.

Formal contract signing is expected to take place in September. The project’s completion is scheduled within 30 months from the commencement date.

It is an extension of the existing ZCINA LPG plant which began operating from June 2013 with three LPG trains. It was designed to increase the production of LPG and condensate from the Hassi Messaoud field.