9th Jul 2015 07:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - Ophir Energy PLC Thursday said it has allowed two contractor consortia to compete for the upstream front end engineering and design contracts for the Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project in Equatorial Guinea.
The FTSE 250-listed oil and gas company has awarded the two consortia with upstream FEED contracts, but only one will be chosen to conduct the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning contract for the project in 2016.
The first consortium comprises McDermott Marine Construction Ltd and GE Oil & Gas UK Ltd, whilst the second consortium comprises Subsea 7 and Aker Solutions.
Ophir said both consortia will work on subsea development design, causing a "competitive process" that will allow each consortium to submit engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning tenders for the upstream FEED, with only one consortium to be selected for a final investment decision, it said.
"Key focus areas for the FEED process will be defining the number of wells required at first gas, the cost of the development and the delivery time of the long lead subsea items, such as subsea trees, that are on the critical path to first gas," said Ophir.
The tenders will be submitted by the two parties when the FEED process is completed at the end of the first quarter of 2016, leading to a final investment decision being made in the middle of 2016 with first gas expected in the middle of 2019.
"The award of Upstream FEED is an important milestone as we continue to de-risk the Fortuna FLNG project through the 'define' phase. The FEED awards, to industry-leading contractors, follow a strongly contested first phase, reflecting the industry's grasp of the significance, and advanced prospects, of the Fortuna project," said Ophir in a statement.
"Ophir's focus will now switch to securing buyers for the liquefied natural gas offtake and to bringing in an equity partner prior to our mid 2016 final investment decision," said Chief Executive Nick Cooper.
Ophir shares were up 0.4% to 108.30 pence per share on Thursday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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