The $US2 million Methanex Chile contract will see Aker Kvaerner modify, expand, improve and optimise existing facilities at Cabo Negro, near the city of Punta Arenas in the heart of Chile's petroleum and gas producing region.
Expected to take about 50,000 man-hours, the work is scheduled for completion in May 2006. Methanex is spending $US18 million in total on its expansion.
An Aker Kvaerner spokesperson said the work included pre-investment studies, feasibility studies, basic and detail engineering, as well as project execution and management. It would utilise local resources in Punta Arenas, Aker Kvaerner's Santiago office, and extensive methanol expertise at its Houston office in Texas, USA.
The facilities at Cabo Negro give Methanex its largest low-cost production hub. Its three methanol plants have a combined annual capacity of three million tonnes, rising to nearly 4Mt when the new production plant is commissioned.
Aker Kvaerner successfully completed two lump sum, turnkey contracts for Methanex in the 1990s for design and construction of its second and third production units.
