Kentz Corporation announced the award of a US$640m contract to the UGL Kentz JV for the structural, mechanical and piping (SMP) construction package for the Ichthys Project Onshore LNG Facilities in Darwin, Australia.

This contract was awarded by JKC Australia LNG, a joint venture between JGC Corporation, KBR and Chiyoda Corporation. JKC is responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction of the onshore facilities, including the gas processing plant at Blaydin Point. This unit rate re-measurable contract will be performed by the UGL Kentz JV, a 50/50 joint venture between UGL Resources, a fully owned subsidiary of UGL Limited, and Kentz.

The contract will commence in August 2014 and is scheduled to be completed before the start-up of the second LNG train. The contract will provide more than 900 jobs for construction personnel. The contract scope includes the provision of services for site-wide installation for process trains, and additional pre-commissioning and commissioning expertise.

The Ichthys LNG Project is a Joint Venture between INPEX group companies, major partner TOTAL and the Australian subsidiaries of Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas. It is expected to produce 8.4 million tonnes of LNG and 1.6 million tonnes of LPG per annum, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.

Michael Murphy, Executive Sponsor for Kentz, commented: “We are delighted to have secured this major SMP construction contract on the Ichthys Project Onshore LNG Facilities. This adds to the temporary telecoms package that our EPC business unit is now completing and the underground electrical and instrumentation construction contract awarded in 2013.

“This award is a great endorsement of our position in the Australian market to service liquefied natural gas projects with committed investment. Australia boasts a number of the world’s largest natural gas commercialisations and Kentz has th e expertise required to both construct and then maintain such large-scale engineering feats.”

Chris Warlow, Managing Director Australasia Region for Kentz said: “The Ichthys LNG Project will be one of the most important LNG developments to take place in Australia. The strength of our Construction business unit in winning and executing work on major LNG facilities in Australia, is an area of expertise that our customers value. We look forward to working with our JV partner UGL on this project.”