Local engineers win Apache work

A CONSORTIUM of three local engineering companies has beaten its big competitors to win the single largest contract on the expansion of the Varanus Island gas processing plant.

PCT Engineers, HPS Technology and Civmec Construction and Engineering teamed up to bid for the project, which involves the design, construction and installation of a third gas production train on Varanus Island.

The $70 million upgrade will substantially lift capacity on Varanus Island, which serves as a production hub for a series of offshore oil and gas fields in the Carnarvon Basin in the State’s north-west.

The work awarded to the local consortium is worth more than $20 million.

The expansion was commissioned by the Harriet joint venture, which is operated and majority owned by US company Apache Energy and includes listed company Tap Oil.

It was triggered by the Harriet joint venture signing a gas sales contract with Burrup Fertilisers, which is building a liquid ammonia plant on the nearby Burrup Peninsula.

The third gas processing train will have a capacity of 120 terajoules a day, lifting the total capacity of the Harriet joint venture to about 220 TJ a day.

Varanus Island also has two production trains for the East Spar joint venture, owned by Apache and Santos, with a capacity of 180TJ/day.

To put this in context, the North West Shelf project is currently building a fourth gas processing train on the Burrup Peninsula with a capacity of 4.2 million tonnes of LNG per year.

The local engineering consortium won the tender against five other bidders, which included major international and Australian engineering companies.

“The project will be executed by the consortium as one integrated team,” PCT Engineers Mark Sawyer told WA Business News.

He added that the consortium members had a long history of providing engineering and construction services to Apache.

“We are familiar with working in those fragile areas of the Carnarvon Basin,” Mr Sawyer said.

“It is crucial that sound environmental management is practised up there.”

The timing of the project was ideal for PCT and HPS, Mr Sawyer said, which have just completed work on South Australia’s SeaGas project.

PCT will handle the design and engineering work as well as being responsible for commissioning, Civmec will handle civil construction and HPS will be responsible for procurement, fabrication and site erection.