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NYSE and ASX-listed Tamboran awarded Bechtel the contract for the LNG terminal at Middle Arm in Darwin in August.
According to the firm, the contract is worth $4.62 million.
Tamboran’s decision to award Bechtel the scope of work follows a “highly competitive process with some of the world’s most experienced EPC contractors,” it said.
Bechtel has delivered more than 140 mtpa of LNG (30 percent of the global LNG production), including nine LNG trains in Australia, with an additional 45 mtpa of capacity currently under EPC, globally.
Tamboran said pre-FEED activities are expected to further optimize the plant design and will take about 32 weeks. It expects pre-FEED to be completed in 1H 2025.
Also, the decision to progress into pre-FEED activities follows a six-month concept select study by UK-based Wood Group, which defined and selected the key LNG plant specifications including liquefaction technology, compressor driver configuration, LNG capacity and facility infrastructure layouts, it said.
Construction expected to start in 2027
Tamboran’s planned terminal will liquefy shale gas from the Beetaloo Basin and ship it to South and East Asian markets.
In July 2024, the Northern Territory government granted an interim agreement to Tamboran over its 420-acre site site at Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct.
The agreement will remain in place until it is replaced by a commercial lease document just prior to a positive final investment decision, according to Tamboran.
Tamboran claims the Middle Arm land has the potential to hold up to 27 mtpa LNG capacity.
The company intends to seek strategic partners in financing and developing the proposed NTLNG development.
The facility will be located near two existing and operational LNG export terminals, including the Santos-led Darwin LNG terminal with a capacity of 3.7 mtpa and the Inpex-led Ichthys LNG terminal with a capacity of 8.9 mtpa.
Tamboran estimates the total time required for the construction of the NTLNG project to be between three to five years.
Moreover, the company expects it could start construction in 2027 and launch the first train in 2030.
Last year, Tamboran entered into two non-binding memorandums with units of energy giants Shell and BP to supply LNG from the NTLNG plant.
Shell Eastern Trading and BP Singapore would each purchase up to 2.2 million tonnes of LNG per annum over a 20-year period.
