ConocoPhillips and Bechtel Renew Worldwide LNG Alliance

ConocoPhillips and Bechtel Corp. have agreed to renew their collaboration of pursuing worldwide liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects. The collaboration will build upon the recent success of ConocoPhillips as a major owner and participant in the worldwide LNG industry, and Bechtel's recent awards in the engineering and construction of major projects in Trinidad and Egypt. "The ConocoPhillips-Bechtel collaboration continues our commitment to providing our LNG technology while leveraging our position as a pre-eminent participant in the LNG industry worldwide," said Rick Hernandez, ConocoPhillips' manager of worldwide LNG technology licensing. "ConocoPhillips and Bechtel continue to capitalize on our respective LNG strengths to increase our global market share of LNG facilities." Amos Avidan, Bechtel's principal vice president and manager of petroleum and chemicals technologies, said: "Bechtel has been a global leader in LNG engineering and construction for over 30 years, and our recent awards add to our LNG design portfolio. Combining our expertise with ConocoPhillips' continues to provide our customers with lower capital and operating costs, faster time to market, more reliable operations, and overall greater value." The ConocoPhillips' Optimized Cascade LNG Process was first used in 1969 in the company's gas liquefaction plant on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. Designed and built by Bechtel, the facility was the first to ship LNG to Japan and the first to use gas turbines to drive its compressors. It has demonstrated more than 32 years of uninterrupted supply to Japanese customers. Bechtel and ConocoPhillips are currently working on expanding the Atlantic LNG facility in Trinidad. Train 1 has achieved high availability and reliability in its first three years of operation. Train 2 recently was started up successfully, and engineering construction is continuing on additional trains. Bechtel and ConocoPhillips are continuing to enhance the technology through their Houston-based LNG Product Development Center, where current efforts are aimed at developing higher-capacity plants with improved environmental performance. The center is staffed by employees from both companies and further improves the ConocoPhillips Optimized Cascade LNG process and supports marketing efforts worldwide.