Kvaerner studies Umm al-Qaiwain gas

13 December 2002

The Singapore office of the UK's Kvaerner E&C is due to complete by the end of February the detailed engineering package on the offshore element of the Umm al-Qaiwain gas development project (MEED 22:3:02; 11:1:02).

The package has two elements - the construction and installation of a wellhead platform and related facilities, and the supply and installation of a 32-kilometre-long, 14-inch-diameter subsea pipeline connecting the offshore facilities to a proposed onshore gas processing plant.

The firm's contract is part of efforts by the client, Atlantis Holdings Norway- now part of the US/Norwegian Petroleum GeoServices (PGS) - and China National Chemicals Import & Export Corporation (Sinochem), to reduce the cost of the proposed project.

The project centres on the construction of a 150 million-cubic-feet-a-day (cf/d) gas processing and sweetening plant, slug catchers, test separators and related onshore civil works. The capacity of the plant is expected to be increased to 300 million cf/d at a later date. The plant's feedstock will be sourced from an offshore discovery, located about 23 kilometres from the mainland. Technip Abu Dhabi, part of Paris-based Technip-Coflexip, carried out the front-end engineering and design (FEED) package for the project. The facilities will take 14 months to install.

In March, six companies submitted bids for two elements on the offshore package (MEED 22:3:02). However, Atlantis is expected to retender the package as the prices came in above budget.

Atlantis has signed an agreement-in-principle with Abu Dhabi-based UAE Offsets Group (UOG)for the sale of gas. A final agreement is due to be signed by March. UOG plans to sell the gas to Federal Electricity & Water Authority for power generation.

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