Houston: A three-company joint venture has won a contract worth $2bn-plus to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) train at Freeport LNG in Texas.
The three companies are energy infrastructure specialists CB&I (Chicago Bridge and Iron) of Chicago, engineering specialists in the petrochemical industry Chiyoda International of Japan and San Antonio-based Zachry Industrial who are pace-setters in construction and project development. The client is FLNG Liquefaction 3, a subsidiary of Freeport LNG Expansion.
The deal requires the JV to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the third of the three-train natural gas liquefaction and export facility on Quintana Island, near Freeport. The work includes a double walled, full containment 165 000m3 (gross) LNG storage tank, which will be supplied by CB&I.
An LNG train is an LNG plant’s liquefaction and purification facility. In order to make it practical and commercially viable to transport natural gas from one country to another, its volume has to be greatly reduced by refrigeration.
After completion, the three-train liquefaction facility will have a total capacity of more than 13.9 million tonnes per year of LNG.
CB&I and Zachry started construction on the first and second trains in November 2014. Chiyoda accounts for over 40% of the world’s total LNG production capacity, based on its plant design and project execution capabilities.