Increasing The Capacity Of Malaysian LNG Plant
Florence, Italy - GE Energy's oil and gas business has been selected to upgrade three propane compressors as a major portion of a "debottlenecking" project at the Malaysia Liquefied Natural Gas (MLNG) Dua plant in Bitulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. The US$18 million agreement represents one of the largest single-source upgrade contracts won by the GE oil and gas business to date.
The upgrade at MLNG Dua, which is one of three facilities in the PETRONAS LNG Complex, is expected to add 1.3 million tons per year of capacity to the current MLNG Dua production of 7.8 million tons per year.
The compressor upgrade work will be performed at GE Energy's oil and gas facilities in Florence, Italy, with the units to undergo testing at the company's Massa, Italy shop. The three upgraded compressor modules will be ready to be delivered to the MLNG project site in January of 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively.
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, Sarawak. PETRONAS, a leading oil and gas multinational corporation based in Kuala Lumpur, holds majority interests in all three plants. With the combined capacity from the three plants, the PETRONAS LNG complex is now producing 23 million tons per year of LNG.
GE Energy's oil and gas business has a strong presence in Malaysia and has been supplying equipment and services to PETRONAS since 1973. GE has been providing MLNG with LNG trains, including gas and steam turbines and compressors, since 1992. In 2003, GE entered into a seven-year service agreement with MLNG, to maintain GE-supplied equipment in MLNG's Satu, Dua and Tiga facilities.
"Our long-term relationships and performance track record in Malaysia were key factors in GE being named the single-source supplier for this fast-track, compressor upgrade project," said Claudi Santiago, president and CEO of GE Energy's oil and gas business.
SOURCE: GE Energy