Three groups of companies priced the C5 package, which is expected to be worth $1,000 million-1,500 million. The bidders are: Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas with Italy's Saipem; a UAE-based/South Korean team of Petrofac International, Daewoo Engineering & Construction Company and GS Engineering & Construction; and Japan's Toyo Engineering Corporation with South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company. The package involves the construction of a liquid processing unit to incorporate a heavy paraffin converter, a synthetic crude distiller and related product splitters.

Bids were submitted on the same day by three groups of companies for the estimated $700 million-1,000 million C4 contract, covering a 1,600 million-cubic-feet-a-day feed gas processing facility. The bidders are: a team of Petrofac, US-based Black & Veatch and India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T); Japan's Chiyoda Corporation, with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI); and Hyundai E&C, with Toyo.

For the air separation units (ASU) package, two groups of companies submitted bids. Called C2 and worth $800 million-1,000 million, the package covers the construction of eight ASUs to deliver 28,800 tonnes a day of oxygen. The bidders are Germany's Linde and Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I), with Air Products, both of the US.

Commercial bids were also submitted in mid-April for two smaller packages. For C8, the water treatment plant, the bidders include Abu Dhabi-based Al-Jaber Group and Toyo. The second contract involves laying pipelines from platforms at the North field to an onshore gas processing plant.

Technical bids are due to be submitted by 26 June for the tank package. The prequalifiers include HHI, CB&I and the UK's Whessoe Oil & Gas. It involves the construction of 38 storage tanks with total capacity of 900,000 cubic metres at the plant site and Ras Laffan port. The EPC contract also includes piping, civil, structural and instrumentation works.

Pearl GTL calls for the construction of two 70,000-barrel-a-day trains. The first production unit is due to come on stream in 2009/10 and the second is scheduled for completion about a year later.

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