Field/project development

SNC-Lavalin Wins Award for Fast-Tracking of Cardon IV Facilities Project

SNC-Lavalin was recognized by the Rice Global Engineering & Construction Forum’s Award of Excellence for the fast-track installation of a 150 MMcf/D natural gas processing plant for production from the offshore Venezuela Perla field.

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Consorcio La Perla, a consortium between Valerus and Lindsay Venezuela, constructed the facilities. Source: Lindsay Venezuela.

Fast-track installation of a 150 MMcf/D natural gas processing plant, which enabled early initiation of production from Perla field in Cardon IV block in the Gulf of Venezuela, received the 2017 Award for Excellence, presented by the Rice Global Engineering & Construction Forum (RGF). Joseph Lichon, Executive Vice-President of Americas Oil & Gas at SNC-Lavalin, accepted the award on 13 November at the VIP banquet opening the RGF’s 20th annual fall conference.

Perla field--located 50 km offshore Venezuela in 60 m of water--was discovered in 2009 by a joint venture of Eni and Repsol. The licensees awarded SNC-Lavalin a fast-track contract to perform full facility design, detailed engineering, manufacturing, transportation, construction supervision, precommissioning, and utilities commissioning of facilities to process 150 MMcf/D of Perla gas. SNC-Lavalin successfully fulfilled terms of the contract in 63 weeks; engineering and construction companies typically recommend timelines of 4 to 5 years to complete such a broad scope of work.

Strategies SNC-Lavalin drew upon to fulfill contract requirements on an expedited basis included:

  • Fabricating facility components in another country for installation in Venezuela

  • Forming a joint venture with a Venezuelan contractor to perform local construction activities, including mechanical completion, precommissioning, and utilities commissioning

  • Developing a bridge of specifications that combined Repsol and Eni specifications into a set of general-use specifications that satisfied both parties.

Local jobs were created to run and operate gas plant facilities. Commissioning and startup knowledge transferred to local workers can be applied to other projects in Venezuela, generating ongoing benefits.
“I am pleased to recognize SNC-Lavalin as the recipient of the Rice Global E&C Forum’s Award for Excellence,” said Marty Schweers, chair of the RGF board of directors. “SNC-Lavalin was awarded a design-build contract for a 150 MMcf/D early-production plant, which was required to be completed on a very aggressive schedule. Utilizing lessons learned from a previous project, implementing a standardized approach and modular construction strategy, the SNC-Lavalin team was able to design, construct, and commission the plant in a period of 63 weeks, thereby reducing costs and time to market for the client.”

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Map and Data Source: Repsol.