Qatargas has awarded a six-year contract to the US’ GE Oil & Gas to monitor and maintain the company’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline network.

GE says the agreement will result in it building and deploying a pipeline management system including manuals and procedures covering inspection, software automation and engineering assessments.

On 25 October, four international contracting groups submitted commercial construction bids to Qatargas for its $1.2bn plateau maintenance project (MEED 27:10:09)

The winning bidder will help Qatargas maintain its LNG output of 10 million tonnes a year at its Qatargas I project at Ras Laffan until 2030.

In May 2009, GE signed a 16-year service agreement for Oman LNG’s 12 gas turbines at the Qalhat complex in the northeast of the sultanate (MEED 21:5:09).

GE will perform a “comprehensive” range of services on the turbines, which it supplied when the plant was originally built in 1996.