Engineers decide big deals

CHEVRONTEXACO and Woodside have selected engineering contractors for two of the biggest resource projects coming up in Western Australia.

The Kellogg joint venture, which includes local company Clough, has been selected as preferred tenderer for the ‘downstream’ component of the $11 billion Gorgon project, operated by ChevronTexaco.

This decision represents a big win for the Kellogg joint venture, which was the main engineering contractor on the North West Shelf venture’s recently completed $1.6 billion Train Four project.

Meanwhile, Woodside has selected a joint venture between US engineering company Foster Wheeler and Australian company WorleyParsons as preferred tenderer for the North West Shelf venture’s $2 billion phase five expansion project.

The next big news on the project front will be the engineering contract for the ‘upstream’ component of Gorgon, which has been cut to a short list of two – an Intec Fluor joint venture and a Technip JP Kenny joint venture.

The downstream component of the Gorgon project includes construction of an LNG processing train on Barrow Island and is the largest part of the massive project.

The four members of the Kellogg joint venture are US company Kellogg, Brown & Root, local company Clough, Canada’s Hatch, and Japan’s JGC.

The joint venture was issued with a letter of authorisation this week to perform preliminary engineering work over the next four months up to a maximum amount of $11 million.

ChevronTexaco spokesman Peter Coghlan said the three companies that owned the Gorgon project were expected to make a final investment decision towards the middle of the year.

“Pending our final decision, they will conduct this pre-FEED work,” Mr Coghlan told WA Business News.

He said the selection of ‘upstream’ contractors was expected “in the next few weeks”.

Clough managing director David Singleton said the Gorgon project “will support our strategic decision to make Clough Services a much more significant contri-butor to the group’s bottom line”.

Woodside is expected to formally award the engineering contract for Train Five at the time the North West Shelf venture participants make a final investment decision, due by mid year.

In the meantime, Woodside has teamed up with Foster Wheeler, WorleyParsons and the Industry Capability Network to host a briefing next month on the project and opportunities for local suppliers.