By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 14 -- Chile's state oil company Empresa Nacional del Petróleo (Enap) is expected to announce by mid-February the successful bidder for construction of a $400 million LNG regasification terminal at the port of Quintero, near Santiago in central Chile. The plant will have an initial capacity of 9-10 million cu m/day.
Five companies submitted tenders last fall for the terminal: BG Group, BP PLC, Repsol YPF, Suez Energy International, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, according to local press reports.
Construction is scheduled to start this spring or early summer, with operations to begin in 2008-09. The project will supply gas to Gestora del Proyecto GNL, a company formed last fall by Enap and local power generators Endesa SA, AES Gener SA, Colbun, and Metrogas SA. The pool plans to buy about 8 million cu m/day of gas from the project.
Chile imports two thirds of its energy, primarily as gas from Argentina, which reduced its exports to Chile last year by 20-50%.