Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer Qatargas has awarded US Fluor Corp a deal on a $1 billion project to capture gas burnt off when ships load LNG, Qatargas said in a statement.   

The project at Qatar's industrial port of Ras Laffan would collect boiled off gas from LNG ships for use either as fuel or for reprocessing at LNG plants. LNG plants chill natural gas for export on the specially designed tankers.

Qatargas declined to reveal the value of the contract. The project would recover gas that was equivalent to around 600,000 tonnes of LNG, enough to power more than 40,000 homes, the company said in February. The gas is currently burnt at the LNG jetty where tankers load at Ras Laffan.   

More than 100 Fluor personnel will work on the project, both at Fluor's offices in Sugar Land, Texas, USA, and at Ras Laffan. The project would be completed in late 2013 to early 2014 and would reduce greenhouse gas emissions at Ras Laffan, the company said. 

Qatar is the world's largest exporter of LNG. - Reuters