A USD 157 million contract has been awarded to the UK-Norwegian Kværner group by Venezuela's Sincor company.
This order covers the construction of a sulphur-removal plant in the Venezuelan port of José as part of the extra heavy crude oil project being pursued in the Orinoco Belt by Sincor. Statoil has a 15 per cent interest in the latter.
With a daily capacity of roughly 800 tonnes, the plant will reduce polluting emissions from the oil. At the same time, the sulphur extracted provides a saleable product on the international market.
The Kværner contract is the third major assignment placed for the heavy oil project so far. Foster-Wheeler will be building a petroleum coke facility, while Contrina has been commissioned to construct the processing plant and utilities in José.
Sincor's reserves in the Orinoco Belt total some 2.5 billion barrels, making this the largest of the planned extra heavy crude projects in Venezuela.
With production scheduled to begin in November 2000, total spending on the development is expected to reach USD 3.6 billion. This ranks as Statoil's largest international investment project.