Foster Wheeler has been awarded an owner's engineer contract for a new LNG receiving terminal to be built in Montevideo, in the region of Río de la Plata, Uruguay. The contract was awarded by Uruguay's state-owned oil company, Administración Nacional de Combustibles, Alcohol y Portland (ANCAP).

The Foster Wheeler contract value for this project was not disclosed. An initial release of work was included in the company's fourth-quarter 2009 results. The remainder of the work will be booked as soon as formal release is given by the client.

Foster Wheeler's scope of work includes technical assistance through the initial phases of the development of the project, conceptual design of the terminal, and development of the invitation to bid for the role of owner and operator of the terminal. The owner/operator role will include the responsibility for, among other elements, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract. Foster Wheeler's scope also includes the supervision of the EPC contractor from detailed engineering through to start-up.

In order to help meet their projected gas demand, Uruguay and Argentina signed an Energy Cooperation Agreement in July 2007 for the construction of a regasification plant in Uruguay.

The project will supply natural gas for local consumption in Uruguay (enabling the expansion of this source in the energy mix) and also will supply gas to help meet demand in Argentina. It will use the existing natural gas infrastructure between both countries, called Cruz del Sur Gas Pipeline, which connects Montevideo to Buenos Aires through an underground structure of about 200 km long, 50 km of them beneath Río de la Plata, to deliver up to six million cubic meters per day of natural gas to the Greater Buenos Aires area.

The promoters of the "GNL DEL PLATA" facility are the state-owned companies ANCAP, UTE of Uruguay, and ENARSA of Argentina. The project will involve a competitive process that includes the selection of a private enterprise by the promoters to act as developer, owner and operator of the terminal, and the award by the promoters of other contracts for the supply of LNG to the terminal.

Tags: Foster Wheeler Ltd.