Regional LNG: Petronas to upgrade MLNG Dua plant capacity: Report
Monday, September 26 2005 - 05:21 AM WIB
GE Energy, a US-based supplier of power generation and energy delivery technology, said the agreement signed with Petronas represents one of the largest single-source upgrade contracts won by its oil and gas business to date.
?The upgrade of MLNG Dua, which is one of the three facilities in the Petronas LNG complex, is expected to add 1.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of capacity to the current MLNG Dua production of 7.8 mtpa,? the company said.
According to GE Energy, the compressor upgrade work will be performed at its oil and gas facilities in Florence, Italy, with units to undergo testing at the company?s Massa, Italy shop.
The three upgraded compressor modules will be ready for delivery to the MLNG project site in January of 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively, the company said.
A Petronas official, when contacted, was unable to provide detail on the contract, but concurred that the MLNG Dua plant is undergoing ?debottlenecking? exercise that will increase the capacity of the LNG complex from 23 mtpa to 26 mtpa.
The company has sold almost all its 23 mtpa capacity for the next two decades after securing an LNG supply contract from Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) up to 2 mtpa from MLNG Tiga in July.
Under the latest contract, MLNG Tiga will supply LNG to Kogas for 20 years beginning 2008, with an option to extend it for another five years.
Malaysia is the world?s third largest exporter of LNG, following Indonesia and Algeria. MLNG, which operates the three plants in the Petronas complex, is the world?s largest producer of LNG at a single location in Bintulu. Petronas holds majority interests in all three plants.
GE Energy?s oil and gas business, meanwhile, has a strong presence in Malaysia and has been supplying equipment and services to Petronas since 1973. It has been providing MLNG with LNG trains, including gas and steam turbines and compressors, since 1992. (*)