Switzerland-based power and automation technology group ABB has won a contract for about $490 million as part of the El Merk oil and gas project in Algeria. The contract from Groupement Berkine, an Algeria entity that is co-managed by Sonatrach and Anadarko, is part of a plan to develop hydrocarbon deposits in the El Merk basin in the Algerian Sahara Desert.
According to ABB, it is a leading a consortium on the project with a total value of $650 million. Significant production from the development is scheduled to begin in 2012, said the company.
The project consists primarily of design and installation of pipelines, field gathering stations, gas distribution manifolds and flowlines/trunklines, as well as water and gas re-injection facilities.
The compnay further said that the pipeline network will connect oil and gas wells to the processing plant via 10 gathering stations. Facilities to inject gas and water into the wells will help increase their output.
The project award follows power transmission orders valued at $400 million in Kuwait and $550 million in Ireland announced in the past two weeks. According to the company, despite sizeable orders – all of them booked in the first quarter of 2009 – market conditions for the company as a whole remain challenging. Base orders are deteriorating, especially compared to the same levels of a year ago.
Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s process automation division, said: The new installations will help our customer improve output and achieve their production targets. This contract underscores ABB’s ability to execute complex projects for the oil and gas industry.
ABB is engaged in in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies claims to operate in around 100 countries and employs more than 120,000 people.
