SNC-Lavalin and Sandwell on teams for New Brunswick’s Liquefied Natural Gas plant Construction

Work has begun on a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Saint John, New Brunswick. <br>
The import and re-gasification terminal is located adjacent to Irving Oil’s existing Canaport terminal and is the first to be constructed in Canada. The plan is for liquid gas to be imported into the terminal by ship and then sent by pipeline to markets in Canada and the United States via the Brunswick Pipeline and an expansion of the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline system into the U.S. <br>
The Canaport LNG terminal will include two LNG storage tanks of 160,000 cubic metres. Initially it will be able to send out one billion standard cubic feet per day of natural gas.<br>
The contract for engineering, procurement and construction for the onshore facilities was given to a partnership between SNC-Lavalin Inc., Canada’s largest engineering and construction firm, and Saipem S.p.A. of Milan, Italy. <br>
Another consortium between Peter Kiewit of St. John’s, Newfoundland; Weeks Marine of Cranford, New Jersey; and Sandwell Engineering of Vancouver, British Columbia, was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the terminal’s offshore facilities, including the receiving pier. <br>
Several other LNG terminals are planned for Atlantic ports, including the Gros Cacouna plant being planned by TransCanada and PetroCanada near Trois-Riviere in Quebec. Until now, natural gas has been relatively expensive to import and Canada has satisfied its needs with its own domestic sources. However, as natural gas prices rise, LNG importing is becoming economically viable.<br>
Work on the project has already started and the terminal is scheduled to be operation by the end of 2008. <br>
Jean Nehme, senior vice-president and general manager of the industrial division at SNC-Lavalin said is a milestone for their work in the LNG market.<br>
The plant will be owned and operated by Canaport, a limited partnership between Repsol YPF, SA of Spain and Irving Oil Company of Canada.<br>