Siemens Energy has been awarded a contract for supplying turbo compressors and mechanical drive gas turbines for a major Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Malaysia. The project will help to improve overall plant efficiency and minimize gas flaring at the Petronas Bintulu LNG Plant in Sarawak, East Malaysia.

The target of the multimillion-dollar LNG project is to reliquefy excessive Boil-Off Gas (BOG) evaporating out of the LNG storage tanks, and currently flared. It will deploy the world's first gas-turbine-driven cryogenic-temperature BOG turbo compressor from Siemens.

"This order represents a major milestone for Siemens and the LNG industry," says Adil Toubia, CEO of the Oil & Gas Division at Siemens Energy. "Instead of being flared, the boil-off gas will be reliquefied, converted into LNG and routed back to the LNG storage tanks. The project benefits are immense since it will not only increase the LNG production rate and improve plant efficiency but also significantly minimize greenhouse gas emissions".

The LNG project in Sawarak is implemented by MLNG (Malaysia LNG), a subsidiary of Petronas. Engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPC) is contracted to Munich-based LINDE Engineering. These companies are thus pioneering world-scale Boil-Off Gas reliquification within LNG plants and are implementing technology from Siemens to improve efficiency and help to reach international emission standards.

"We will continue to implement innovative solutions and high-end technology to create value along the LNG chain," said Adil Toubia. "This order again also consolidates Siemens' technology and market leadership in cryogenic temperature Boil-Off Gas compressors services, our strong presence for mid-size liquefaction and our flexibility to provide intelligent solutions for new markets as well".

The critical Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project is entering the implementation phase as Pakistan’s state-owned firm Inter-State Gas Systems and Tadbir Energy Costar Iranian Co will sign a construction contract for laying the pipeline in Pakistan sooner.

All issues pertaining to the $1.5 bn Pak-Iran gas pipeline were settled on Thursday and an initial contract is expected to be signed between Pakistan and Iran on Friday. Under the EPC contract to be signed, Tadbir, the Iranian company, would construct the pipeline at a cost of Rs190 million per km and will lay 2 km pipeline per day inside Pakistan. Both sides were in talks for the last four days and the Inter State Gas Systems (ISGS) on behalf of Pakistan and Tadbir from Iran would ink the landmark contract of the EPC. The agreement for purchasing gas would be for 20 years initially and could be extended for another five years, a senior official who is part of the talks confided to The News.

The gas companies - Sui Southern, Sui Northern - and FWO (Frontier Works Organization) f Pakistan will also take part in constructing the pipeline. The gas utilities will complete the task related to mechanical issues and FWO will do the civil works. The laying of 781 kilometres of gas pipeline with 42 inches diameter from Gabd - a point at Pak-Iran border to Nawabshah - will be completed in 15 months. Gas will be imported from Iran at the rate of $13 per MMBTU.

Pakistan is to primarily import 750 million cubic feet per day that would be injected in the power sector to help generate 4000 MW of electricity. Later on the flow of gas will be increased to 1 billion cubic feet gas that will generate 5000 MW of electricity. The replacement of costly furnace oil being used as fuel in powerhouses with the imported gas will help save $1 billion per annum. Pakistan and Iran have also resolved the issue of interest on the loan Tehran would extend. It was decided that Iran would extend $500 million loan and Pakistan would pay 3 percent interest on loan against 4 percent as demanded by Tehran.

Iran will also reduce the price of gas to be imported as against the price earlier finalised in gas sales purchase agreement. There is a clause in the agreement that if Pakistan arranges import of gas from other country at lower price then Iran would also do accordingly.

“We have struck deal with Turkmenistan for import of gas under TAPI gas line at a reduced price compared to the price of Iran.” Once the EPC gets signed the groundbreaking ceremony would be held as soon as possible so that the project could be materialised by December 2014.

Technip has been awarded by Sarawak Shell Berhad an engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning contract for two new gas-export lines at the Laila and D12 fields, respectively located 50 kilometers Northwest of Miri, at a water depth of 75 meters, and 140 kilometers offshore Bintulu, Malaysia, at a water depth of 50 meters.

The contract covers the:

• design, fabrication and installation of a five-kilometer flexible pipe and a ten-kilometer flexible pipe respectively of 7” and 12.8” diameters,
• diver installation of riser(1) clamps at both jacket platforms,
• pre-commissioning of the flowlines(2),
• project management.

Technip’s operating center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is executing the contract, which is scheduled to be completed in the first semester of 2014. The flexible flowlines will be manufactured at Technip’s Asiaflex Products plant, in Tanjung Langsat, Malaysia. Technip’s new-built multipurpose installation and construction vessel, the Deep Orient, will be used for the installation.

Yokogawa is pleased to announce the addition of Soteica Visual MESA's best-in-class energy management and optimization solution services to its portfolio of plantwide energy management solutions (EMS). Yokogawa will provide this new offering to its customers through its strong sales and service channels. Yokogawa has also acquired 44.3% ownership of Soteica Visual MESA to accelerate the joint development of EMS.

Manufacturers around the world are highly interested in, and have a strong need for, EMS that will help them consume less energy and reduce their manufacturing costs. In addition, there is an increasing trend to optimize the mix of conventional and alternative energy sources used by plants, which can help to protect the environment by reducing the emissions of gases such as CO2 and NOx. There are two components to energy management in plants. One is to make more efficient the supply and distribution of utilities, such as steam, electricity and fuel that are used by equipment in the main process, and the other is to optimize the energy consumed by the main process itself.

For this reason, Yokogawa has decided to partner with Soteica Visual MESA, a global technology leader in the EMS field that has worked closely with major oil companies and has a strong track record in the oil industry. The partnership will allow Yokogawa to sell Soteica Visual MESA's well-proven Visual MESA energy management and optimization solution package, extending the range of solution services that it is able to offer to its customers. The partnership will also allow Soteica Visual MESA to expand its sales of Visual MESA through Yokogawa's global sales network, with a particular focus on Asia.

Visual MESA is capable of reducing annual energy costs by approximately 2% to 5%. There are approximately 3,400 plants worldwide with $40 million or more in utility costs each year that could benefit from Visual MESA and obtain a return on their investment in one year or less, and Yokogawa will initially be targeting these facilities.

Yokogawa will provide high value added EMS services, including maintenance and sitewide energy management and optimization services (sustainability services). Yokogawa and Soteica Visual MESA will also cooperate in engineering with the aim of acquiring the knowledge needed to create a new business model for an EMS service that can help to optimize energy efficiency throughout a plant, including the main process and utilities.

"We are very excited about entering into this comprehensive partnership with Yokogawa as it will enable us to dramatically increase the exposure of Visual MESA, our industry leading solution for utilities optimization", said Oscar Santollani, Soteica Visual MESA's CEO. He added, "We have found in Yokogawa a partner with whom we share the same work ethics and engineering rigor. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship."

Yokogawa President Shuzo Kaihori commented as follows: "Our customer's technologically advanced plants need not only to reduce their energy consumption but also to obtain the best mix of conventional and renewable energy sources in order to protect the environment by reducing emissions of CO2, NOx, and other gases. To meet our customers' growing needs in this area, Soteica is an ideal fit for Yokogawa, allowing us to deliver field proven plantwide energy management and optimization solutions and services."