Woodside Energy has issued the selection to the subsidiary Foster Wheeler (WA) Pty Ltd and its partner in the form of a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) contract.

Signature of the contract is subject to approval of the project by the North West Shelf Venture participants, and approval is expected during the first half of 2005. The value of the joint venture booking is currently confidential and the booking will be recorded when the investment is authorized.

We are delighted to receive the letter of intent from Woodside for this major contract, said Steve Davies, chairman and CEO of Foster Wheeler Energy Limited. We will combine our ability to execute and manage complex world-scale projects and our proven EPC LNG liquefaction experience, together with WorleyParsons’ project execution track record and intimate knowledge of the existing Karratha LNG complex, to deliver a safe, successful, high-quality facility.

This phase V expansion project, which has an investment cost of around $1.58 billion, comprises the addition of a fifth train of LNG production, with a capacity of 4.2 million tons a year of LNG, to the existing LNG complex at Karratha.

In addition to train 5, the contract calls for the provision of an additional fractionation unit, acid gas recovery unit, boil-off gas compressor, two new gas turbine power generation units, a second loading berth and a new fuel gas system compressor. The facility is expected to start up in the fourth quarter of 2008.