AUSTRALIA’S LOWRIE CONSTRUCTIONS WINS 2nd PNG, LNG CONTRACT
Announcement posted by Lowrie Constructions (WA) Pty Ltd 25 Apr 2011
AUSTRALIA’S LOWRIE CONSTRUCTIONS WINS 2nd CONTRACT
FOR GIANT LNG PROJECT IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
An Australian company has won its second contract for Papua New Guinea’s US$15 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
Perth-based Lowrie Constructions Limited announced today it had been contracted to build and supply the project’s marine terminal control shelter at Port Moresby.
The new LNG processing plant is currently under construction in Port Moresby and the Lowrie facility will be installed there on the end of the project’s main jetty.
This is the terminus for the gas and liquids subsea pipeline which runs to Port Moresby from Kopi further to the west and which is itself the sea terminus for the gas and oil flows originating in the PNG highlands.
The highly engineered control shelter installation will cover two storeys and be built in modular format at Lowrie’s manufacturing complex south of Perth.
Construction is expected to commence within three weeks and will take 12-14 weeks to complete prior to export.
The order takes to in excess of A$10 million, the value of contracts now secured by Lowrie on PNG’s largest energy project.
The electrical/switch room manufacturing specialist late last year was awarded a contract for at least three separate telecommunications facilities in remote areas of the inland pipeline route, extending from the southern Highlands and western provinces of PNG to Kopi.
Lowrie is wholly-owned by South Australian-based private equity firm, Paragon Private Equity.
“The marine terminal facility at Port Morseby requires significant engineering as being located at the end of the jetty, it is open to the sea and wind elements of the southern coast yet has to perform demanding technical and electrical tasking,” Lowrie Construction’s General Manager, Mr Adrian Poyner, said today.
“It has to have the weather proof performance of a bomb shelter but the delicate internal operating protocols of a more geographically stable land-based facility,” Mr Poyner said.
“While contractual obligations prevent us naming the client – one of the members of the consortia of world engineering majors involved in the project – nonetheless we won the contract based on our track record and proven experience in servicing difficult onshore and offshore switchroom facilities to Australia’s energy and petroleum sectors,” he said.
“Importantly, we worked very closely with the contractor’s engineering staff through much of this year to evolve a design and specification route which exceeded client expectations in a manner that allows Australian manufacturing expertise to be further showcased on this world-class energy undertaking.”
Mr Poyner expects that the modules will be trans-shipped in the same manner as the telecommunications rooms – being taken firstly to Perth’s marine and rail export hub at Henderson and shipped to the eastern states prior to delivery to Port Morseby.
A number of the telecommunications rooms are scheduled for airlifting to PNG via the giant Russian-built Antonov transport aircraft.
“Lowrie is clearly focused on building our energy and resources order book in a competitive manner throughout the west and east coasts of Australia and our near neighbours in the Asia Pacific,” Mr Poyner said.
“Securing our 2nd contract in less than six months on this project flags the opportunities available to Australian suppliers which have a stable and skilled workforce and an open mind approach to delivering technical and performance outcomes that are at least innovative and relevant in this high end spectrum of the energy chain.”
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Adrian Poyner Kevin Skinner
General Manager Field Public Relations
Lowrie Constructions (WA) Pty Ltd (08) 8234 9555
(08) 9459 8855 (0414) 822 631
0448 776 029