Led front all these sites have used up to 72

A bright orange flame 30 to 40 metres high and a Jet engine noise. Installed 200 metres above the ground, the flare is visible for miles. Designed by Technip to the liquefaction plant of Qatargas in Ras Laffan, the Qatar, it can eject a gas flow with a speed of Mach 1 in case of serious problem...

The storage of liquefied gas, water, electricity, the length of the loading docks: everything is huge on the site of Ras Laffan, an hour's drive of Doha. Technip has led here four Pharaonic projects, of which the last step has just completed a few weeks ago. In six years, the French group and its Japanese partner Chiyoda made out of six land huge units for the production of liquefied natural gas and a treatment plant of gas destined for the local market. All for about $ 16 billion.

With a capacity of 7.8 million tonnes per year, six liquefaction trains are the largest in the world. Technip and Chiyoda have delivered the last Qatar Petroleum and Shell early in October. The previous, delivered in August and for ConocoPhilips, Qatar Petroleum and Mitsui, should enter into production by the end of the year.

Led front, all these sites have used up to 72.000 people. It took use of more than 140 tons of steel (the equivalent of 14 towers Eiffel) structures, do come over 650 cranes and lay 15,000 kilometres of cables (the distance between Paris and Beijing). The management of the whole was not without difficulty. Early 2008, Technip had to pass an allowance of EUR 200 million to cover losses on construction sites. It took also renegotiate the schedules of realization.

The Koreans less present

Two reasons for this: the effect of series proved to be less important than expected, because of the specific requests of some customers (ExxonMobil, Shell, ConocoPhillips). Above all, Technip had to redeem the escalation of prices of labour and materials first in 2007-2008. "The concomitance of the projects has created a fairly high pressure.". "There was also the impact of the Olympic Games and the growth in China and India", explains Jean-Marc Aubry, Director of Western Europe, Africa and Middle East in Technip. Proud but relieved to have finished, Technip engineers will have to work on smaller sites in the future. The Qatar has implemented a moratorium on the development of new gas fields until 2014. Only Barzan, a project of $ 1.7 billion, remains on track. In competition with Saipem and Japanese Chiyoda and JGC, Technip should submit a bid in early November.

For the French group, the Qatar remains an important market, where the Korean competition is less strong than in Saudi Arabia or United Arab Emirates. But it is now the petrochemical or refining hunt contracts will be needed. And they are not Legion.

At the beginning of the year, Doha has abandoned a new refinery project in favour of an extension of existing site. This summer, ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum put an end to their cooperation on a $ 6 billion petrochemical project. In this context, some waiting December with impatience. On that date, Fifa should designate the 2022 FIFA World Cup host country. The Qatar is a candidate. If victorious, this would give a huge blow to boost construction and energy sectors in the country.