Emirates LNG has still to award the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract on the first phase of its planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and regasification unit in Fujairah, UAE, according to a source close to the bidding process.

In July this year, after bids were submitted, it emerged that South Korea’s Samsung Engineering had entered the lowest bid for the contract.

Other companies submitting bids included fellow South Korean group Samsung C&T and Italian contractors Saipem and Techint.

The first phase will cover floating storage and regasification units, with an annual capacity of 4.5 million t/y, or about 600 million cubic feet a day (cf/d). Phase one planned to start up in 2015, with stage two, a floating storage terminal with onshore vaporisation capacity, to follow a year later.

US-based Excelerate Energy has been awarded the contract to supply the LNG technology for the project, according to reports.