Bahrain National Gas Company (Banagas) has signed a $15.42 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement with JGC Gulf International (JGULF) for de-bottlenecking its processing trains at the Central Gas Plant.

The project is designed to facilitate increased feed gas rates up to 18m standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) from the Bahrain Refinery and maximise liquid recovery by 4,500 barrels per day.

The project involves replacement of pumps, construction of additional heat exchangers and resizing certain vessels.

Mechanical work on the project is expected to be completed in 23 months with commissioning and start-up scheduled for May 2014.

A previous EPC contract was awarded to JGULF in August 2011 for construction of a new compressor station. It included gas gathering and transmission lines and a new central control centre worth $42.4 million.

This will help ensure continuous handling of up to 310 mmscfd of associated and refinery off gas.

Energy Minister and Banagas chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mirza with Banagas and JGULF officials after agreeing the deal.-TradeArabia News Service