Bechtel's $84 Billion in North American Projects Fired by Global Natural Gas, LNG Demand

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Bechtel Corporation (San Francisco, California) has seen some of its largest, most closely watched projects--particularly those for the development of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG)--reach milestones since the beginning of the year. Just this month, two of the largest Oil & Gas Industry projects to feature Bechtel's services received key approvals from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Industrial Info is tracking more than $108 billion in active projects involving Bechtel, more than $84 billion of which is in the U.S. and Canada.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing the top 10 U.S. and Canadian states or provinces for projects involving Bechtel, by investment value.

FERC recently approved construction on one of the most eagerly anticipated projects involving Bechtel: Sempra Energy's (NYSE:SRE) (San Diego, California) estimated $3.5 billion Train 1 and $3.5 billion Train 2 at an LNG liquefaction plant in Port Arthur, Texas. The trains will produce a total 13.5 million tons per annum of LNG, for export to countries with or without U.S. free-trade agreements. Each will feature a pair of LNG storage tanks, with capacities of 160,000 cubic meters per tank.

Bechtel was selected last year to be the engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) and commissioning contractor for the Port Arthur LNG project; in December, Sempra entered into a definitive, 20-year sale-and-purchase agreement with Polish Oil & Gas Company (PGNiG) (Warsaw, Poland) for 2 million metric tons per year of offtake. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on Train 1 and Train 2.

Bechtel also is at work on $3.5 billion worth of natural gas-fired power plants in the U.S., including one on which it is serving as project manager: Renovo Rail Industries LLC's estimated $800 million Renovo Energy Center in Renovo, Pennsylvania. The natural gas-fired, combined-cycle power station is designed to generate 950 MW from two combustion turbines and a steam turbine, all provided by General Electric (Boston, Massachusetts). For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

The Renovo facility has been in its planning phase for years, but a consultant on the project recently informed local authorities that all permitting had been completed and the project's backers were in the process of wrapping up financing, according to Clinton County newspaper The Record. One local official said he was optimistic that the project would begin construction in the fourth quarter, as scheduled.

One of the most widely anticipated midstream projects involving Bechtel received some good news last week, when FERC granted authorization to Tellurian Incorporated's (NASDAQ:TELL) (Houston, Texas) Driftwood LNG project, a massive liquefaction export facility near Lake Charles, Louisiana, that includes the 96-mile, estimated $2.2 billion Driftwood Pipeline. The proposed pipeline would deliver an average of 4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to the facility.

The project also improved its financial support this month, when Total S.A. (NYSE:TOT) (Courbevoie, France) agreed to invest more than $700 million in both the facility and the pipeline, upping its stake in Driftwood LNG to about 25%. Major components of the pipeline include:

• $80 million Phase I, covering 53.4 miles; see project report
• $55 million Phase II, covering 28.5 miles; see project report
• $45 million Phase III, covering 16.7 miles; see project report
• $150 million Gillis Natural Gas Compressor Station 01 in Fenton, Louisiana; see project report
• $100 million Basile Natural Gas Compressor Station 02 in Eunice, Louisiana; see project report
• $200 million Mamou Natural Gas Compressor Station in Mamou, Louisiana; see project report

Bechtel also is among the EPC companies at work on Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia) subsidiary Georgia Power's construction of units 3 and 4 at the Vogtle Nuclear Power Station in Waynesboro, Georgia, which are designed to generate 2,234 megawatts (MW). Despite being years late and billions of dollars over budget, the project received some good news last month when the U.S. Department of Energy guaranteed $3.7 billion of new loans to its owners. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report and March 27, 2019, article - Vogtle Owners Receive $3.7 Billion in Federal Loan Guarantees.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.