The Asian ReportPublished on the 1st and 15th of each month |
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December 1st issue #296 The subscribers will soon be reading the January 1st issue #298 of The Asian Report which contains in excess of US$104,500,000,000 of information on new projects that are either in the Development, Planning, Engineering, Procurement or Construction phase. They all need people with the right expertise, suppliers or sub-contractors, so if you want to get on the Fast Track go to Asia Subscription Service and subscribe now. Employment By subscription to The Asian Report only. Country Update Asia The southern Vietnamese province of Kien Giang is speeding up site clearance for the building of a belt road running along the Gulf of Thailand to link Vietnam with Cambodia and Thailand. The project, scheduled to start early next year will is scheduled to be complete in five years, is estimated to cost US$328,000,000 from loans by the Asian Development Bank www.adb.org and the Republic of Korea, Australia and corresponding capital of Vietnam. The belt road will run through Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces in Vietnam with a total length of 220km. Australia AusGroup www.ausclad.com.au is primed to start a US$24,000,000 labor supply contract for the Blacktip gas field project. The gas field lies in the Bonaparte Gulf, about 250 kilometers south-west of Darwin with the offshore gas gathering system in about 52 meters of water. Ausclad www.ausclad.com.au will provide personnel for the installation and pipe laying work onboard Eni www.agip.it derrick lay barge. This includes installing a wellhead platform jacket, piles and topside, which are currently being fabricated by Ausclad at its Kwinana facilities. The labor supply contract starts immediately and will end in January. Eni owns 100% of the field, which sits in Block WA-279-P. Poyry www.poyry.com has been selected as the main engineering consultant for Amcor new B9 linerboard machine project at their existing Botany Mill in Sydney. Production is scheduled to start in the second half of 2010. The project includes a new stock preparation plant. The new paper machine will replace the two older existing paper machines at the Botany Mill.. Pöyry's services include basic engineering, detail engineering, field engineering and procurement services. China China National Petroleum Corp www.cnpc.com.cn plan to build a third west-east gas pipeline in a bid to meet strong demand along the eastern seaboard. The pipeline will start from the western Xinjiang region and is likely to end in Fujian province in the southeast, supplying natural gas to Yangtze and Pearl River deltas. The Front End Engineering Design (FEED) will go out for tender early next year said an official at the planning unit of China National Petroleum Corp the country's largest oil and gas producer. The project is likely to be similar in length to a 9,102-kilometer (5,650-mile) gas pipeline that China National Petroleum Corp started to build in February. That pipeline, which will transmit gas imported from central Asian countries like Turkmenistan to Shanghai in the east and Guangdong province in the south, has a total investment of around US$20,800,000,000. It is expected to be completed in 2011 and has been designed to transmit 40 billion cubic meters of gas each year India Oil India Ltd www.oilindia.nic.in is reportedly in talks with Coal India www.coalindia.nic.in to build a ZUS$1,500,000,000 plant to convert coal reserves in Assam province into liquid fuels. Oil India is also planning to bring refiner Indian Oil Corporation www.iocl.com and Engineers India Ltd www.engineersindia.com as partners in the development. A few other companies are considering coal to liquid projects, Tata Group www.tata.com in partnership with Sasol Petroleum www.sasol.com as well as the Reliance group www.ril.com. Both ventures are valued at about US$8,000,000,000. Chicago Bridge & Iron Company www.cbiepc.com through it’s Lummus Technology has been awarded contracts with an overall value in excess of US$45,000,000 by Essar Oil www.essar.com for technology licenses and basic engineering related to a major grassroots petrochemicals complex in Vadinar, Gujarat. The technologies to be provided include ethylene, ethylbenzene/styrene monomer, butadiene extraction, MTBE/ETBE/butene-1, and cumene/phenol. The cornerstone of the petrochemical complex will be a 1.3 million metric ton per annum mixed feed ethylene unit that will utilize Lummus' latest generation VI cracking furnaces and recovery technology. The downstream petrochemical units for the production of styrene, butadiene, ethers, butene-1, and phenol are also of world-scale capacity, and are being licensed by Lummus in cooperation with its various licensing partners. Delays in obtaining approvals for Mittal www.ispat.com two plants had pushed up costs by 50 percent but the company is still committed to investing in the plants. Mittal who is the world's largest steel firm; planned integrated steel plants in Orissa and Jharkhand states were facing big cost overruns due to delays in getting mining, land acquisition and other approvals. When they started it was estimated the two plants would cost about US$20,000,000,000 but with a delay for two years costs have gone up by 50 percent and the cost is expected to be more than US$30,000,000,000. Indonesia Lanna Resources PCL LANN.BK is planning to open another mine in the first quarter to help ease the impact of the forced closure of one of its existing mines. The opening had been delayed from earlier this year due to heavy rains, where until recently the company operated only two coal mines. An Indonesian court has revoked the license of one of its two mines in the country, which was operated by its 55 percent owned Indonesian subsidiary. The government may grant a new license for the mine and Lanna could work with the new operator. Lanna planned to spend US$10,000,000 next year to develop the third mine, which should produce about 50,000-100,000 tons this year, rising to 1.2-1.5 million tons in 2009 and 2 million tons in 2010. Pertamina www.pertamina.com and Inpex www.inpex.co.jp have agreed to develop gas from the Masela block in eastern Indonesia and Inpex will build a floating liquefied natural gas plant with a total investment of US$14,000,000,000. The plan of development will be signed in November and the project is expected to be operational early 2015 with a annual LNG production capacity of 4.5 million tons per an official of the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency BP Migas www.bpmigas.com Originally Inpex proposed to build the LNG plant in Darwin, Australia but the proposal was rejected by the government. Inpex has no other visible choice but to build a floating plant off the island of Arafura. PT Pupuk Kaltim www.pupukkaltim.com plans to build a new urea fertilizer plant at a cost of US$740,000,000. The construction of its fifth urea fertilizer plant would start in mid-2009 and be completed in 2011. The new facility would increase the production capacity of PT Kaltim to 3.5 million tons, from 2.2 million tons at present. The company would put up US$190,000,000 of the total cost and that bank loans and bond funds would cover the rest. The construction of its fifth urea fertilizer plant is scheduled to start in the third quarter and be completed in 2011. The new facility would increase the production capacity of PT Kaltim to 3.5 million tons, from 2.2 million tons at present. Pertamina www.pertamina.com has approved a plan by www.chevron.com to develop natural gas reserves in five offshore fields in Makassar Strait, including Gendalo, Maha, Gandang, Gehem, and Ranggas. The government has approved the plan of development and the company may now start operations. Gendalo, Maha, and Gendang fields form part of the Ganal Block concession operated by Chevron Ganal Ltd., while Ranggas and Gehem fields are on the Rapak Block operated by contractor Chevron Rapak Ltd. Sumitomo Corporation www.sumitomocorp.co.jp plans to spend up to US$1,500,000,000 to build two additional generators at Tanjung Jati B coal-fired power plant in Jepara, Central Java. Sumitomo will build two generator units with a combined capacity of 1320 megawatts to augment the existing generators at the plant, which also push out a combined 1320 MW. The construction will start in early 2009 and three years later the new units will go on-line. The purchase agreement between PT Central Java Power, a subsidiary of Sumitomo that is operating the power plant and PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara www.pln-jabar.co.id as the sole power distributor for households and most businesses will be signed later this month. Under the agreement, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara will buy electricity from Sumitomo's power plant for 23 years. Laos Glow Energy www.glow.co.th , a subsidiary Suez SA www.suez-lyonnaise-aux.com are close to concluding a deal to buy a 67 percent stake in a power plant in Laos from parent Suez. The board will consider the plan to buy a stake later this month the in Hua Ho power plant. The investment is estimated at about US$50,000,000. Suez holds 80 percent of the 138 MW Hua Ho hydropower plant. Glow and Hemaraj Land and Development PLC www.hemaraj.com have already formed a joint venture called GHECO-One Co which was chosen by the Thai government to build a 660 MW, coal-fired plant estimated to cost about US$1,150,000,000. Philippines Nido Petroleum www.nido.com.au has spudded the Yakal-1 exploration well in service contract 54 and marks the first probe in the north-west Palawan basin in almost ten years. The well is expected to take three weeks to drill and, if justified, will be suspended pending extended testing. Russia Mechel www.mechel.com has started a US$500,000,000 project to build a trans-shipment complex in the Russian Far East to move coal to the Asia-Pacific region. The complex at the Pacific port of Vanino is scheduled to open in 2012 with capacity of 15 million tons and rising to 25 million tons when a second stage is added by 2015. It will take coal from Mechel's Neryungrinsky and Elga coal deposits in the far eastern Russian region of Yakutia. Construction of the complex at Vanino port and the implementation of other transportation projects will establish one of the largest transportation hubs in the Far East. The design and construction of the Vanino complex would run concurrently with the development of the Elga deposit, Russia's biggest untapped coal field. Mechel is also building a 315-km (197-mile) railroad to link the Elga field with the Baikal-Amur railroad, which runs through Vanino. The railway is scheduled to open for permanent operation by September 2010. Coal will be unloaded at Vanino onto marine bulk carriers with maximum deadweight capacity of 150,000 tons. Singapore Bouygues Construction www.bouygues.fr subsidiary Bouygues Bâtiment International www.bouygues.fr has won two major contracts in Singapore, with a combined total of more than US$250,000,000, the contracts cover construction of a residential complex and a five-star hotel. Awarded by a subsidiary of ChoiceHomes Investments Pte Ltd , the residential complex located in Toa Payoh will comprise three 39 story towers with a total of 571 housing units. The three towers will be built on a podium and two basement levels. Worth more than US$115,000,000, the works will start later this month and is scheduled to be completed in 38 months. Awarded by City Developments Limited www.cdl.com.sg the hotel contract covers the design and construction of a 250-room, five-star hotel. The seven story hotel is part of the Quayside development which includes the Quayside Collection apartments and marina entrusted to Bouygues Bâtiment International in November 2007. The hotel, located on Sentosa Island, will be close to the Quayside Condominium. The contract is worth over US$135,000,000 and will take two and a half years to build. Thailand CUEL Limited www.cuel.co.th has formally awarded Swiber Holdings Limited www.swiber.com a contract to provide offshore installation services in the Gulf of Thailand. The project was secured by the Group’s Offshore Construction Services arm, Swiber Offshore Construction Pte Ltd www.swiber.com . This latest project is part of a major long-term agreement that was previously announced by Swiber in March 2008. That project encompassed Swiber providing offshore installation services in the Gulf of Thailand for various clients of CUEL at an estimated annual value of approximately US$50,000,000 per year for a period of up to five years beginning in 2009. Swiber’s scope of activities for the long-term agreement include for the installation engineering, and installation of jackets, piles, topsides and pipelines for offshore facilities in-country; as well as the supply all personnel, equipment and services necessary for the execution of the project work. The project will start this month with completion targeted for August 2009. Vietnam Poyry www.poyry.com has been awarded an engineering and implementation services contract by Vietnam Paper Corporation www.moi.gov.vn for a new pulp production line in the Bai Bang second phase expansion project. Poyry's services for the pulp mill expansion project include basic and detail engineering as well as site services for a new pulp line with a production capacity of 250 000 t/a. The new line is scheduled to start up in 2010. Quang Ngai province has given the nod to the Tan Mai Paper Joint Stock Company www.tanmaipaper.com to build a paper and pulp plant in Binh Long commune, Binh Son district. The US$199,000,000 paper mill has a designed capacity of producing 200,000 tons of paper in addition to 130,000 tons of pulp per year. The four-year project will establish a strong paper and pulp production centre near the material zone.. Middle East Updates Velosi www.velosi.com has won a five-year contract with Aramco Overseas Company www.saudiaramco.com for general inspection of its capital projectsThe work involved field inspection and testing and quality documentation reviews during the design, procurement and construction phases of Saudi Aramco facilities, including both onshore and offshore installations and “non-industrial” facilities. The contract will start this month and will run through the second quarter of 2013. Petrofac Limited www.petrofac.com and Mubadala Petroleum Services Co www.mubadala.ae ., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mubadala Development Co www.mubadala.ae will establish a joint venture company called Petrofac Emirates LLC. Based in Abu Dhabi and scheduled to begin operation within the next few months the new company will provide a full range of engineering, design, procurement and construction services for onshore oil and gas, refining and petrochemical projects throughout the United Arab Emirates. Selected management and engineering staff from Petrofac's Engineering & Construction division in Sharjah will be assigned to the joint venture in order to help establish its initial business structure and operating procedures before end of this year. Petrofac Emirates LLC plans to have several hundred full time staff within the next few years in Abu Dhabi. Petrofac is a leading international provider of facilities solutions to the oil & gas production and processing industry. Through its three divisions, Engineering & Construction, Operations Services and Energy Developments, Petrofac designs and builds oil & gas facilities; operates, maintains or manages facilities and trains personnel; and, where return criteria are met and service revenue synergies identified, co-invests with customers and partners. With more than 10,000 employees, Petrofac operates out of four strategically located international centers, in Aberdeen, Sharjah, Woking and Mumbai and a further 20 offices worldwide. The predominant focus of Petrofac's business is on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), Africa, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Asia Pacific region. Al Habtoor Leighton www.leighton.com.au is part of an alliance which has won a US$1,800,000,000 contract to build a major commercial and residential development in Abu Dhabi. Tameer Towers is to be built in a joint venture with local contractors Murray and Roberts www.murrob.com and Al Rajhi www.alrajhibank.com.sa . The development, on 920,000 sq m on Al Reem Island, includes four residential towers ranging from 42 to 66 floors, a five-star business hotel, a 74-level A-grade office tower and a marina. Work is to begin this month with the residential stage to be completed in June 2011 and the commercial stage in December 2011. Amec www.amec.com has been awarded a four year program management consultancy contract by Zakum Development Company www.zadco.com in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The reimbursable contract is estimated to be worth US$75,000,000 over the five years. Amec will provide engineering, consultancy and project management services extending from concept stage through front-end engineering design (FEED), design, construction and commissioning of several projects on the multi-billion dollar Upper Zakum full field development program. The program is expected to be completed by 2013. European Updates Bergen Group Rosenberg www.bergen-group.no has received a contract from ConocoPhillips www.conocophillips.com for front-end engineering and design (FEED) of a new living quarters platform ConocoPhillips plans to build for the Ekofisk field. While this contract is for engineering only it will also allow BGR the opportunity to compete for an EPC contract for actual construction of the living quarters platform. The contract will be carried out in a joint venture project between Bergen Group Rosenberg and their partner Ramboll Oil & Gas. Another company, Markhus AS, will also contribute significant architectural resources and expertise to the project. The contract comprises about 55,000 engineering hours. This work will be finished in December 2009, when a complete EPC tender for construction of the new quarters platform is also to be submitted. Technip www.technip.com wholly-owned subsidiary Duco Ltd. www.technip.com has been awarded by BP Norge AS www.bp.com a lump sum EPC contract, worth approximately UZS$38,000,000 for the Skarv field development. This field is located on the Norwegian continental shelf, in water depths ranging from 350 to 450 meters. The contract covers engineering, procurement, project management services and fabrication of two dynamic umbilicals, six static umbilicals and one fiber optic cable. The umbilical systems will be manufactured by Duco in its facility in Newcastle, United Kingdom. The project is scheduled for delivery in 2010. Other News Dresser-Rand Group Inc. www.dresser-rand.com has received a Letter of Authorization to Proceed from Kanfa Aragon www.aragon.no to supply the compression equipment for the world's first floating liquefaction plant, the Flex LNG Ltd. www.flexlng.com destined for operation offshore Nigeria. The award is for approximately US$55,000,000. The floating liquefied natural gas unit will have a liquefaction capacity of approximately 1.7 MTPA. Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. www.shi.samsung.co.kr is the EPCIC contractor for LNGP1, while Kanfa Aragon, a Sevan Marine www.sevanmarine.com subsidiary, is the Engineering & Procurement contractor for the topsides facilities. Cegelec www.cegelec.com has been awarded a turnkey contract for more than US$65,000,000 to design, build and commission the 111 MW Vridi 2 power plant extension in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The new unit is scheduled to come on stream in December 2009, lifting the Vridi 2 power plant's generation capacity to 320 MW. Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Ltd has awarded their joint venture company of SNC-Lavalin Nuclear www.snc-lavalin.com and Murray & Roberts www.murrob.com to provide engineering, procurement, project and construction management services for Phase II of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Demonstration Power Plant at Koeberg, South Africa. Phase II of the project entails construction of a commercial scale power plant at Koeberg near Cape Town, which is subject to obtaining a nuclear licence from the National Nuclear Regulator and a positive Record of Decision on the Environmental Impact Assessment. Phase II work will begin this month with an expected date of completion of September 2014. The approximate value of the contract is around US$250,000,000.
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