MEDIA RELEASE PR39962
PERU LNG Inaugurates the First Natural Gas Liquefaction (LNG) Plant in South America
MELCHORITA, Peru, June 11 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
Peru becomes a leading player in the regional energy sector.
The startup of the Melchorita Plant also incorporates the
commissioning of a 408-km pipeline and a marine terminal.
On June 10th the first natural gas liquefaction plant in South America
was officially inaugurated. At US$3.8 billion in investment, PERU LNG
represents the largest investment in one single project ever made in Peru.
President Alan García Pérez, several government authorities, political,
business and opinion leaders, along with the many Peruvians that work at the
Plant, attended the official opening of the Melchorita Plant, located at km.
170 of the South Pan American Highway.
The start of operations at Melchorita launches Peru into a new era, one
in which the high level of investor confidence and legal and economic
stability act as a magnet for mega investment projects. The startup of PERU
LNG represents the opportunity to continue the current economic growth trend
and reassert the country's reputation as a thriving and safe destination for
investment.
As a result of this project, Peru's gross domestic product expanded 2%
during the construction phase (2006-2010) and over 30,000 jobs were
generated. Looking forward, forecasts predict that the Peruvian State will
receive approximately US$310 million a year due to the Project.
The Melchorita Plant will produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) through a
purification and cooling process which will reduce the gas volume by 600
times, which facilitates its storage and transport. The plant has a nominal
capacity of 4.4 million tons per year and will process 620 MMcfd of natural
gas.
In addition, at the plant site are the two largest storage tanks in Peru
(each stores 130,000 m3 of LNG) and a marine terminal that stretches more
than 1 kilometer long and will receive tankers of 90,000 to 173,000 m3 each.
The Melchorita Plant is the result of a decade of planning and
development, which includes the installation of important pipeline
infrastructure that will also serve the Peruvian market. Thanks to an
agreement signed with TGP and recently approved by the Ministry of Energy and
Mines, the PERU LNG pipeline will provide up to 550 MMcfd of transport
capacity for the Peruvian market, which will clear up the bottleneck of gas
transportation to bring more gas to power generation companies, industrial
companies, vehicles running on natural gas, and Peruvian homes using natural
gas for heat.
The Consortium
Four world-class energy companies form the PERU LNG consortium: Hunt Oil
Company of the United States, with a 50% participating interest; SK Energy of
South Korea, with a 20% participating interest; Repsol of Spain, also with a
20% participating interest; and Marubeni Corporation of Japan, with a 10%
participating interest.
This consortium was specifically set up to develop, build, and operate
the PERU LNG Project. Several experienced construction contractors were hired
to make this Project a reality: Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I) in charge of the
plant's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC); the CDB consortium
(Saipem, Jan de Nul and Odebrecht) in charge of the marine terminal
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), and Techint responsible for
installation of the pipeline. Several Peruvian companies like Graña &
Montero, Cosapi, Translei, Minera San Martin, Cosmos, Aceros Arequipa,
Tecnicas Metalicas, Esmetal and Sima, among many others, have also
contributed to the project.
The project received financing of US$2.25 billion in total, which
includes financing from highly reputed international entities, as well as
financing from the local Peruvian market. The international financing comes
from the Inter American Development Bank (IADB), the International Finance
Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank, the Export-Import Bank of the United
States, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the Italian Credit Export Credit
Agency (SACE), Société Générale, BBVA, Crédit Agricole-CIB, Sumitomo, ING,
Mizuho, and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. In addition, a successful US$200
million bond offering was made in the local market to secure more capital.
Banco de Credito del Peru and Scotiabank Peru provided a US$75 million
working capital facility and the partner companies made a US$1.6 billion
capital contribution.
Social responsibility
During the construction period (2006-2010), approximately US$20 million
was invested in social and environmental programs. The highest national and
international standards were implemented to ensure exemplary performance,
demonstrating the project's commitment to respect the environment and local
culture in all activities.
More than 20,000 families have benefitted from the range of social
responsibility programs implemented by PERU LNG. Exemplary programs have been
implemented as part of this commitment, such as Allin Minkay, which promotes
agricultural and livestock competitiveness in the Andean highlands and
ForPyme, which strengthens small and medium size enterprises in the coastal
area.
In addition, extensive environmental programs have been implemented along
the entire pipeline area and near the plant. These biodiversity and
conservation programs not only meet, but surpass, the highest national and
international environmental standards.
SOURCE: PERU LNG
CONTACT: Jeanne Phillips,
Senior Vice President,
Corporate Affairs & International Relations,
+1-469-231-3309,
for Hunt Consolidated, Inc.
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