Santos awards Gladstone LNG contract to Foster Wheeler

Foster Wheeler announced that its UK-headquartered subsidiary, Foster Wheeler Energy, part of its Global Engineering and Construction Group, has been awarded a contract to undertake a six-month study for the pre-front-end engineering design (pre-FEED) for Santos's planned Gladstone LNG (GLNG) project in Queensland, Australia.
The proposed project is for a 3-4 mm tpy liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing facility and associated infrastructure. The GLNG facility would be one of the first LNG facilities in the world to use coal-bed methane as a feedstock for LNG production. The Foster Wheeler contract value will be included in the company's second-quarter 2008 bookings.

Foster Wheeler is one of two contractors appointed to undertake pre-FEED studies to enable Santos to consider the optimum technical design for, and cost and schedule implications of, two different LNG process technologies for GLNG.
Santos has announced that it anticipates making a decision to move towards a formal FEED process by the end of 2008 or early 2009, a final investment decision by the end of 2009, and first LNG cargoes early in 2014.

"This latest LNG award, which is our fourth LNG award in Australia, reflects the depth of our liquefaction expertise, our detailed knowledge of the Australian market, and the added value and objectivity our Reading-based Midstream LNG Group is able to bring to the early stages of LNG project development," said Michael J. Beaumont, chairman and chief executive officer, Foster Wheeler Energy.
"This is clearly a significant milestone, and further demonstrates the momentum which is building around GLNG. The dual pre-FEED contract awards have been achieved in line with the project schedule and it is pleasing to have such experienced, world-class contractors appointed to the project," commented David Knox, acting chief executive officer, Santos.