AMEC Awarded Shell UK Contract for Bacton Natural Gas Terminal

AMEC has been awarded a £25 million contract by Shell UK Ltd to design, engineer and deliver a new gas reception facility at the Bacton natural gas terminal, Norfolk, as part of a major pipeline project by Balgzand Bacton Pipeline Company (BBL) to transport gas from the Netherlands to the UK.

Shell is responsible for overall project management and commissioning of the new facility, which will be owned by BBL VoF, an international consortium of gas transmission companies. Shell will maintain and operate the facilities on behalf of BBL.

AMEC was involved in feasibility studies and conceptual design and will now carry out the engineering, procurement, installation and pre-commissioning of the facilities and provide commissioning support services to Shell.

The facility will consist of four process trains featuring 5.3 megawatt heaters, filtration, flow control and metering systems, with a central control and safety systems building and a 450m-long pipeline tie-in to the National Grid Transco transmission network.

On-site construction begins this month, with mechanical completion of the facility scheduled for the third quarter of 2006. First gas is expected on stream by the end of 2006.

Gas will be transported to the reception facility through BBL's 235km-long, 900mm-diameter pipeline that runs under the North Sea from Balgzand on the Dutch coast to Bacton. The pipeline will allow the import of high quality gas from Europe to help secure energy supply to the UK as reliance on imported gas increases. At full capacity it would be able to supply up to 13% of the UK demand for gas.

"We are pleased to support long-term client Shell and their client BBL in meeting the UK's growing demand for energy," said Steve Lee, managing director of AMEC's industrial business. "This project is one of several we are undertaking in the gas supply sector and, alongside our involvement in electricity transmission, the nuclear sector and our offshore oil and gas work around the world, reinforces our position as a major support services supplier to the international energy industry."

AMEC has a long association with the Bacton gas processing complex, where it has worked for Shell for the last nine years.

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Posted 19/05/05

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