French engineering services firm Technip has secured a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract from Trunkline LNG Export for the potential expansion of the existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal located in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The expansion project includes a LNG liquefaction plant, with a total export capacity of up to approximately 15 million tonnes per annum, so that a portion of the vast additional supplies of natural gas produced from shale gas fields across the US can be exported to international markets.
The total liquefaction capacity could be achieved through up to three identical trains, with associated utilities and offsite facilities as well as the re-use of the existing LNG offloading, storage and marine facilities. Technip said that Air Products has been selected to supply its C3MR liquefaction process technology for the FEED study.
Technip’s operating centre in Houston, Texas will execute the contract with the support from the group’s centre in Paris, France. The work is scheduled for completion during the first half of 2014.
David Dickson, Technip’s senior vice president, North America region, said: “Adding liquefaction capabilities to the existing infrastructure would provide the option of switching from regasification to liquefaction, depending on the world market for LNG.
“This award constitutes the first LNG liquefaction FEED project for Technip in the US. It is also a true testimony of BG Group and its partners’ trust in our expertise as, after working for them in the subsea and offshore businesses, we are now expanding our collaboration to onshore.”