Bulgaria to open tender for building gas link with Greece in autumn
Bulgaria intends to launch a tender for the construction of a gas interconnection with Greece this autumn, energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on Tuesday.
In parallel, Bulgaria also intends to launch a new gas market test this autumn, Petkova said in a press release following a meeting with U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria, Eric Rubin.
The construction of the interconnector Greece-Bulgaria is planned to start in 2018. The link providing for gas flow in both directions is expected to become operational in 2020.
The project is being implemented according to the planned timeframe, Petkova said.
Bulgaria will seek 35 million euro ($40.8 million) in EU financing for the project.
The project for connecting the gas transmission systems of Bulgaria and Greece is being implemented by joint venture company ICGB, registered in Bulgaria in 2011, with state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and Greece-registered IGI Poseidon holding equal shares. Greek public gas corporation DEPA and Italian energy group Edison own 50% each of IGI Poseidon.
Skanska Renovates Tunnels In Akershus, Norway, For NOK 385M
Skanska has signed a contract with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration for the renovation of two tunnels on the E6 in Akershus, Norway. The contract is worth NOK 385M, about SEK 400M, which will be included in the Nordic order bookings for the third quarter 2017.
The Nordby tunnel is 3,850 meters long with two files in each direction in double pipes, while Smiehagen is 892 meters with two lanes in one direction. The tunnels opened in 1993 and 1999 respectively, and are upgraded to comply with regulations. In the Nordby tunnel, fire safety and rock support will be improved. In the Smiehagen tunnel the road surface will be replaced and the drainage system repaired. A new purification plant that takes water from both tunnels will also be built.
Construction starts in August 2017 and the project will be completed in February 2019.
Skanska is one of the leading development and construction companies in the Nordics, with operations in building construction and civil engineering in Sweden, Norway and Finland, and developing residential- and commercial property projects in select home markets. The commercial development stream is also active in Denmark. Skanska offers services in public-private partnerships. Skanska had sales of about SEK 67 billion and more than 15,000 employees in its Nordic operations during 2016.
KBR wins LBED contract for Ammonia plant revamp
KBR, Inc, today announced that it has been awarded a contract by Dorogobuzh JSC to provide licensing and basic engineering design (LBED) to revamp an ammonia plant, originally built by KBR, located in the Dorogobuzh, Smolensk region of Russia. Under the agreement KBR will supply its proprietary ammonia technology to increase plant capacity significantly to 2100 MTPD with improved efficiency.
KBR will utilize its industry leading revamp technology KRES™ (KBR Reforming Exchanger System) in conjunction with KBR's True Cold Wall Add-on Converter to achieve low project cost revamping to enable Dorogobuzh to produce low cost ammonia to meet increasing captive demand.
"The application of KRES™ in conjunction with KBR's reliable add-on ammonia converter provides low cost revamping to Dorogobuzh and numerous similar plants in the region," said John Derbyshire, President of KBR Technology & Consulting.
"We are pleased to contribute KBR's innovative technology solution for natural gas monetization in Russia," Derbyshire continued. "KBR is a leader in helping clients debottleneck their ammonia plants and achieve greater production capacities, process efficiencies and reliability."
KBR is a leader across the world in ammonia technology and has been involved in the licensing, design, engineering and/or construction of more than 230 ammonia plants worldwide.
Revenue associated with this project is undisclosed and was booked into backlog of unfilled orders for KBR's Technology & Consulting Business Segment in the second quarter of 2017.
Cameroon’s Sonara lets contract for Limbe refinery
Cameroon’s Societe Nationale de Raffinage SA (Sonara) has let a contract to a consortium of French firms Suez SA, Sogea Satom, and Ingenica to provide technology licensing, engineering, and construction for a project to modernize and expand the effluent treatment plant of its 2.1 million-tonne/year refinery in Limbe.
As part of its scope of work under the contract, Suez will equip the plant with its proprietary Poseidon technology for pretreating refinery effluent, the service provider said.
The joint consortium also will build a 18,500-cu m storm basin designed to collect polluted rainwater before treatment to prevent runoff of surface water containing high levels of hydrocarbons.
Scheduled to be completed in September 2018, the modernized effluent plant will be able to treat 9,600 cu m/day of industrial water and rainwater at the site, Suez said.
Suez said its share of the total €22-million contract will amount to about €6 million.
As part of its program to improve fuel production and maximize processing of crude produced in Cameroon, Sonara also is executing an ongoing project to expand capacity of the refinery to 3.5 million tpy, according to the operator’s web site.
Alongside addition of a new vacuum distillation and hydrocracking units, the expansion will include revamps of existing units.
Sonara has yet to release a definitive timeframe for when it will commission the fully expanded refinery.
SNC-Lavalin wins FEED conversion to EPC contract from Brahms Oil Refineries
SNC-Lavalin has been awarded a contract by Brahms Oil Refineries to undertake the front-end engineering design (FEED) conversion to EPC contract for a 10,000 barrel per day crude oil refinery in Kamsar, Guinea.
The FEED will provide a budget cost estimate to obtain a final investment decision (FID) for the project in the third quarter of 2017.
SNC-Lavalin’s scope for this phase of the work includes project management, coordination and management of the process licensor, management of the geotechnical and topographic survey contractors, preliminary engineering and procurement, as well as estimating services and EPC execution plan for the complete grassroots refinery, including the tank farm and marine works required for import of crude oil by ship.
The contract signed to date is for the short form FEED, with a process to agree a phased development of the project ultimately into an EPC project following FID approval.
“We are delighted to be working with Brahms Oil Refineries on the first refinery to be built in Guinea to process West African crude oil,” commented Martin Adler, president, oil & gas, SNC-Lavalin. “This project allows us to demonstrate our expertise in modular design and supports our objective to grow our business in downstream oil and gas. We look forward to helping our client achieve FID and progressing to the EPC phase of the project,” added Adler.
The plant will be designed to produce diesel, gasoline and jet fuel to be sold to the local Guinean market.
Brahms Oil Refineries is a private company focused on developing downstream projects aimed at contributing to the industrialisation of Sub-Saharan African countries. It was established to help increase refining capacity in Africa by building modular crude oil refineries in select Sub-Saharan countries.
Gazprom Neft building new delayed coking unit at its Omsk Refinery
Construction of a delayed coking unit (DCU) has now begun at Gazprom Neft’s Omsk Refinery, the company reported on July 25, 2017.
Annual raw material consumption at the complex will be two million tonnes.
The CDU is set to become one of the largest facilities of its kind in Russia, and has been approved by Glavgosekspertisa (the organisation responsible for certification and permitting in the Russian Federation).
Construction of the DCU is one of the key projects in the 2nd phase of modernisingGazprom Neft’s refining assets, directed at improving refining depth and increasing yield of light petroleum products.
The new facility will allow additional yield of light petroleum products - gasoline and diesel fuels - as well as increasing production of high-quality petroleum coke - a raw material for the aluminium industry, produced through the production of heavy fuel oil from preceding stages of production.
The CDU will consist of 5 sections, including a coking section, a gas fractionation unit, a section for cleaning liquefied hydrocarbon gases, and an amine regeneration unit.
Infrastructure facilities under construction at the plant include facilities for dehydration, storage, and the transportation and shipment of coke to railway cars.
The design documentation for the DCU was developed by Rustechnip. The licence for the technology is held by Foster Wheeler, a world leader in delayed coking processes.
Construction of the complex is expected to be complete by 2020.
Anatoly Cherner, Deputy CEO for Processing, Logistics and Sales, Gazprom Neft, commented: «Implementing the DCU project addresses a number of major objectives in terms of the technological development of the Omsk Refinery. We will be increasing production of motor fuels, and supplying a growing market with high-quality petroleum coke. Apart from which, the energy efficiency of technological processes will be improved, and operating costs optimised through the deep refining of oil residues.
Construction of the CDU, together with other projects that form part of the second phase of modernising the plant, allow us to achieve a synergistic effect, bringing the Gazprom Neft Omsk Refinery closer to achieving the best international standards, increasing refining depth to 97 % and yield of light petroleum products to 80 %.»
Kirkuk-Iran oil pipeline on horizon
A pipeline that would export oil from Iraq’s Kirkuk fields via Iran is being assessed by officials from both countries, Iran’s petroleum minister said on Sunday.
Bijan Namdar Zangeneh made the comments following a meeting with Iraqi Minister of Oil Jabar Al Luaibi in Tehran.
The two sides signed an MoU in February on assessing construction of the pipeline. In Sunday’s meeting, Zangeneh and Al Luaibi discussed selecting an international firm to conduct a feasibility study for the project.
Zangeneh also said Iranian gas exports to Iraq’s Basra would begin within months and had been delayed due to banking-related issues that were resolved with a switch to cash payments.
Gazprom signs MoU on Changouleh and Azar
Gazprom signed an agreement with Iran’s Oil Industries Engineering and Construction late last week on two field studies, Iranian media reported on Sunday.
The Russian company will conduct studies of the Changouleh and Azar oilfields, both located in the Anaran block in western Iran on the Iraqi border.
Oil Industries Engineering and Construction had signed a non-disclosure agreement with Gazprom in 2016 that envisioned future collaboration.
As joint fields with substantial reserves, Changouleh and Azar have been singled out as priorities for investment by the National Iranian Oil Company.