LNG

KBR, the US energy and civil engineering company, has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction management contract by Australia’s Woodside Energy for the Pluto LNG project in Western Australia.

The task of KBR will be to undertake modifications to Train 1 of Woodside's Pluto liquefaction facility.

The Houston-based company explained that modifications will enable the processing of up to three million tonnes per annum of offshore Scarborough gas field through Train 1, while Pluto Train 2 is built in a separate project.

“KBR is pleased to support Woodside in the modification of the Pluto Train 1 LNG facility to enable processing of Scarborough gas, and in turn provide opportunity to extend the life of the plant,” said Jay Ibrahim, President at KBR of Sustainable Technology Solutions.

More jobs

“We are also excited to focus on engaging local and Indigenous businesses to support the project and proud to be creating jobs and opportunities within Western Australia,” Ibrahim stated.

KBR has nearly 50 years of experience in designing, developing and supporting LNG facilities. The company has overhauled existing liquefaction Trains at LNG plants worldwide.

The Pluto LNG onshore processing facility is located near Karratha in the northwest of Western Australia and the first cargo from the single-Train facility was delivered in 2012.

Woodside’s Pluto feed-gas supplies come from the Pluto and Xena gas fields. However, the additional Scarborough field will provide Train 1 with a longer lifespan as well as enabling the building of second liquefaction Train at the Pluto facility.

The second Train will have 5 million tonnes per annum of output and take total nameplate capacity of both Trains to at least 8.2 MTPA.

The Scarborough field is located about 375 kilometres off the coast of Western Australia and is estimated to contain 11.1 trillion cubic feet of dry gas.

Development of Scarborough includes the installation of a floating production unit (FPU) with eight wells drilled in the initial phase and 13 wells drilled over the life of the Scarborough field.

Equity sale

Woodside announced in August 2023 that it was selling equity in the Scarborough joint venture to LNG Japan Corp.

The Japanese company will also import LNG from the Scarborough volumes and collaborate in new energy opportunities. 

A sale and purchase agreement was signed with the LNG Japan entity for the sale of a 10 percent non-operating participating interest in the joint venture for $500 million, subject to adjustments. 

The Japanese venture will additionally reimburse Woodside for its share of expenditure for the Scarborough project, effective from 1st January, 2022.

LNG Japan is a 50-50 joint venture between Sumitomo Corp and Sojitz Corp., two of Japan’s seven largest general trading companies who are known in Japanese as the “sogo shosha”.

Venture Global, the US developer of three LNG export plants in Louisiana, said that US engineering firm KBR was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the first phase of the Plaquemines project on the banks of the Mississippi River.

US engineering company KBR, a world leader in liquefaction plant construction projects, said it would exit most of its LNG on-site building ventures and other related projects because of the global reduction in energy investments.

The Houston, Texas-based company will now refocus on its government contracts and technology businesses, according to a conference call statement to investors and letters to employees from Chief Executive Stuart Bradie.

“KBR will no longer engage in lump sum, blue collar construction services,” said Bradie, explaining that the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the decision to leave fixed-contract energy projects.

KBR holds contracts for engineering and construction services for several LNG export projects, including Freeport LNG’s Train 4 expansion at Quintana Island in Texas, Pieridae Energy’s proposed Goldboro LNG facility in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and Glenfarne Group's Magnolia LNG project in Louisiana.

Freeport LNG has delayed its expansion project to 2021 and planned to seek new bids for construction.

KBR gave no details of potential impairments in its next earnings because of the LNG and energy construction pull-back, though it said in a recent strategy Webcast on June 16 that it expected the energy business to be “marginally profitable” in 2020.

CEO Bradie is expected to disclose more details when the second-quarter results are released in July

Bradie told investors in the conference call that about 85 percent of the company's forecast earnings for 2020 are expected to come from the government-related contract business, up from about 11 percent in 2015.

KBR said the changes would mean “significant realignment” in some offices as the management transforms the business to the new structure and to new ways of working, while exiting certain markets and regions.

KBR appears to be only existing “construction services” and is expected to continue with its consulting business in the energy and related sectors.

Its most recent energy contract awarded in May 2020, was a master service agreement and feasibility study by Japanese resources company JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp.

The contracts will be executed by KBR’s Energy Solutions division, which includes sectors such as onshore oil and gas, LNG liquefaction and regasification, floating LNG and refining.

KBR said it was building on a strong and successful portfolio in the of options for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), alongside blue hydrogen production relating to oil and gas fields in Southeast Asia.

In the JX Nippon project, KBR will provide technical consultancy services in relation to developing concepts and technology recommendations for the capture of carbon-dioxide (CO2), re-injection and production of blue (carbon free) hydrogen.

The project will be led primarily from KBR's consulting hub in Singapore.

May 20 (LNG) - LNG and energy engineering company, KBR of the US, has signed a joint venture agreement with NIPIneftegas JSC to establish a new engineering and support services company in Kazakhstan, the former Soviet Republic which is a big supplier of pipeline natural gas to China.

   “With support from KBR and NIPIneftegas, the venture called KBR-NIPILLP, will provide engineering, procurement, design and related services for projects across the upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas sectors, within the Republic of Kazakhstan,” said a statement. Kazakhstan supplied 7.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas to China last year and plans to gradually increase this total to 10 Bcm per annum. 

KBR, the US engineering company with a strong energy and LNG presence, has been awarded a master service agreement and feasibility study by Japanese resources company JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp.

KBR, the US engineering and LNG contractor, was awarded a major project management consultancy services contract for the Ghasha portfolio of gas projects by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in the United Arab Emirates, the oldest LNG producer in the Middle East.

TechnipFMC, the LNG and energy engineering company, reaffirmed that its planned transaction to separate into two companies, TechnipFMC and Technip Energies, is well on track for completion in the first half of 2020.

Lake Charles LNG, the US export project being pursued by pipeline and midstream company Energy Transfer and Royal Dutch Shell, has issued a tender package for engineering, procurement, and construction and for contractors to submit firm bids.

Nigeria LNG has finally signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction contract with a consortium of companies from Italy, Japan and South Korea to proceed with the construction of a seventh liquefaction Train.

Another large natural gas discovery in the Niger Delta has focused attention on the slow progress of the expansion project for the Nigerian liquefaction and export plant at Bonny Island, where a seventh Train has been planned for several years.