UGL Kentz JV wins $US640m Ichthys work

A joint venture between engineering firms UGL and Kentz has been awarded a $US640 million contract for construction work at Inpex's Ichthys liquefied natural gas project.

The 50-50 JV will perform structural, mechanical and piping works at the project's onshore LNG facilities in Darwin, with the contract set to commence in August.

The agreement is with lead contractor JKC Australia LNG, a joint venture between Japan-based JGC Corporation and Chiyoda Corporation, and global engineering firm KBR.

It is expected that the contract will provide more than 900 jobs for construction personnel.

"The Ichthys project will be one of the most important LNG developments to take place in Australia," Kentz managing director Australasia region Chris Warlow said. 

"The strength of our construction business unit in winning and executing work on major LNG facilities in Australia is an area of expertise that our customers value." 

The UGL Kentz JV joins a growing list of contractors with major operations in Western Australia to have secured work on the massive Ichthys project.

Perth-based engineering company Monadelphous Group was this week awarded a $680 million construction contract at the project's Darwin supply base.

Concrete construction group Whittens and staff and services firm Programmed Maintenance Services have also won contracts at the project in recent months.

The $US34 billion Ichthys project will have an annual output of 8.4 million tonnes per annum from gas fields located in the Browse Basin off the north-west coast of Western Australia.