U.K.'s Kentz Corporation Secures £51 Million EPC Contract for Qatargas' Laffan Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Kentz Corporation Limited (LSE:KENZ) (Jersey, United Kingdom), through subsidiary Qatar Kentz WLL (Doha, Qatar), has secured an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to develop the fuel-receiving and loading facility for the Laffan Refinery in Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar.

The contract, estimated to be worth more than £51 million ($85 million), was awarded to Kentz by Qatargas, a joint venture between state-owned Qatar Petroleum (Doha) and various international oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) (Irving, Texas) and Total SA (NYSE:TOT) (Paris, France).

Under the contract, Kentz will develop the main fuel truck distribution center for the Laffan Refinery Tank Farm, the pipelines connecting the tank farm, the loading facility, and the jetty at Ras Laffan. The project includes a new automated gantry facility, designed to enable up to eight road tankers to be loaded with diesel products simultaneously.

Kentz will be responsible for process design, custody metering of diesel products, and the construction of storage and loading facilities on a turnkey basis. On completion of the project, which is scheduled for 2011, Kentz will hand over operations to Qatar Fuel (WOQOD) QSC (DOH:QFLS) (Doha), the sole distributor of fuels in Qatar, for continuing operations and maintenance.

Since commencing operations in Qatar in 1997, Kentz has completed more than 25 projects for Qatar Petroleum and its subsidiaries. The company is currently active in a number of projects in Qatar and has about 4,000 staff in the country. Among the larger projects are the gas-to-liquids (GTL) project at the Ras Laffan Industrial City and the Sidra Medical and Research Center under construction at Doha.

Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) are constructing the world's largest GTL plant, the Pearl GTL project, at Ras Laffan to develop and transport fuels and lubricants from Qatar's North Field gas field. Kentz has been awarded a contract to supply eight air separation units, capable of producing 86,000 cubic meters of oxygen per hour, for the project. The units have a scheduled delivery date of September 2010.

Kentz is also working in a joint venture with Voltas Limited (Mumbai), a member of Tata Group (Mumbai), to design and construct mechanical, electrical and piping services for the Sidra Medical and Research Center, under construction for the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and scheduled to open in 2012.

The foundation stone for the Laffan Refinery was laid in 2006 in the Ras Laffan Industrial City. When fully operational, the refinery will be one of the world's largest condensate refineries, having a total processing capacity of 146,000 barrels per stream day. The refinery is a joint venture project involving Qatar Petroleum with a 51% stake; Exxon Mobil, Total, Cosmo Oil Company Limited (TYO:5007) (Tokyo, Japan), and Idemitsu Kosan Company Limited (TYO:5019) (Tokyo), each with 10% stakes; and Marubeni Corporation (TYO:8002) (Tokyo) and Mitsui & Company Limited (TYO:8031) (Tokyo), with stakes of 4.5% each.

The refinery has been designed to produce up to 9,000 barrels per stream day of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); 61,000 barrels per stream day of hydrotreated naphtha; 52,000 barrels per stream day of kerosene; and 24,000 barrels per stream day of gasoil. The first production from the refinery project was reported on September 23 this year.

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