Sound Energy, the Moroccan focused upstream gas company, said it has awarded a front-end engineering and design (Feed) contract for a gas processing plant and a 20-inch gas pipeline facility in Morocco to a consortium comprising leading Spanish groups Enagas, Elecnor and Fomento.

As per the deal, the consortium is committed to conditional construction and financing of all the infrastructure required, including a 20-inch pipeline and facilities, to commercialise the company's existing gas discovery in eastern Morocco, said the statement from the Moroccan firm.

The trio will jointly finalise the funding, construction and operation for both the 20 inch pipeline and the central processing facility under a  'build-own-operate-transfer' (BOOT) structure, it added.

Sound Energy's CEO James Parsons said: "This is a hugely important milestone for our company and I am delighted that Sound Energy is playing such a pivotal role in unlocking the first significant scale indigenous gas production in Morocco."

The scope of work includes Feed for a gas processing plant and a 20 inch gas pipeline which on completion will deliver an estimated 60 mmscf/d of gas to the Gas Maghreb-Europe pipeline system.

"For Sound Energy and its shareholders, this innovative BOOT structure means that the company is now firmly on the pathway to commercialising our existing and future gas resources in Eastern Morocco, all without additional equity dilution," he added.-TradeArabia News Service