Shell And PetroChina JV Awards Queensland LNG Contracts To Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V., Chiyoda Corporation And Saipem S.p.A.-DJ

Dow Jones reported that Royal Dutch Shell Plc and PetroChina Company Limited's design and early engineering work is to begin on a gas-export plant in Australia, giving a shot in the arm to a project that is lagging rivals in the race to capitalize on rapid Asian energy demand growth. The award of a contract for front-end engineering and design work to a consortium comprising Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V., Chiyoda Corporation and Italy's Saipem S.p.A. is a key step toward the plant's approval and construction at Gladstone in Queensland state. Shell and PetroChina's plans involve the initial construction of two processing units, known as trains, at Gladstone that are capable of producing a combined 8 million tons of LNG annually for export. The companies say annual capacity could be doubled to 16 million tons of LNG in future by adding two further trains.