Anadarko selects Chiyoda, CB&I, Saipem JV as Mozambique LNG contractor

By PAUL BURKHARDT
Bloomberg

Anadarko Petroleum selected a group of developers including Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CB&I) for a potential $15 billion liquefied natural-gas (LNG) project in Mozambique.

CB&I’s joint venture with Japan-based Chiyoda Corp. and Saipem SpA, based in Italy, will work on the onshore project that includes two LNG units with 6 million tpy of capacity each, Anadarko said Monday.

The decision is a significant step toward reaching a final investment decision and demonstrates a “continued commitment to advancing this important project toward first cargoes,” CEO Al Walker said in the statement.

The award of the contract comes at a time when some other energy companies have had to delay or cancel large developments after a collapse in oil prices. Anadarko says it will make a final investment decision by the end of the year.

Construction plans also include two LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 180,000 cubic meters, condensate storage, a multi-berth marine jetty and associated utilities and infrastructure, according to Texas-based Anadarko.

The company has secured non-binding, long-term “off-take” agreements for more than 8 million tpy of LNG from potential customers and is making progress in turning these into binding sales and purchase deals, Walker said. It’s also getting letters of intent from lenders for project financing, he said.

Anadarko will work on a development plan to submit to the government in the coming months, he said.

The project could be valued at as much as $5 billion for CB&I and “further validates the company’s strong position in the global LNG market,” Chase Jacobson, an equity analyst with William Blair & Co., said in a note. It also provides CB&I “with improved earnings visibility beyond 2016,” he said.

Tokyo Gas Co. is interested in the project as costs will probably be less than some developments in Canada and Australia, Shigeru Muraki, an adviser for the Japanese fuel supplier, told reporters at an energy conference Monday in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.

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