Historic Agreement Signedto build LAUGFS LPG Import/ExportTerminal at Hambantota
LAUGFS Terminals Limited, a company to be structured as a wholly owned subsidiary of LAUGFS Gas PLC today signed the agreement with China Huanqiu Contracting & Construction Corporation (HQC) for the turnkey EPC construction of the LAUGFS LPG Terminal, the first and the largest investment in Sri Lanka’s strategic port at Hambantota.
Built with an investment of over USD 80 million, the LAUGFS Terminal will be one of the largest LPG import and export terminals in its class in South Asia in terms of storage capacity, and will be the most strategic in terms of its location, having access to serve a population of around half a billion within neighbouring countries.
“This LPG terminal will be a monumental step in our global expansion plans, which we are aggressively pursuing,and will help further strengthen our energy presence across the region,” commented Mr,W.K.H.Wegapitiya, Group Chairman of LAUGFS. “Hambantota is a strategic location that sits in the middle of the world’s largest nautical/shipping routes with over 50% of the world’s nautical traffic. It is also in close proximity to some of the largest emerging LPG markets, including India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Eastern and Southern Africa to name but a few.
The Hambantota port provides global industry facilities, has very generous drafts and can facilitate multiple types of LPG ships. Thesefantastic location-based advantages combined with our expertise as an energy conglomerate, willgarner tremendous benefits not just for the industry, but also for our nation,” he further remarked.
Commenting on the significance of the new LPG Terminal, Mr.Thilak De Silva, Group Managing Director of LAUGFS elaborated, “The LAUGFS Terminal will service vessels from small pressurized vessels to VLGCs (Very Large Gas Carriers). The terminal will be absolutely world class, employing the latest state-of-the-art technologies, equipment and systems, with the capability to export, blend and store LPG with an initial capacity of 30,000 MT.”
“We have plans to enhance the capacity with an additional 15,000 MT of LPG, which will boost the handling capacity yield easily to over 100,000 MT and beyond,” Mr. De Silva further explained.
With the capacity to accept a very wide variety of LPG vessels for import and export of LPG, the terminal offers utmost flexibility to its customers. It will also have the capability to handle local distribution of LPG through LPG road tanker trucks and will further have an onsite LPG bottling facility.
“Thisstate-of-the-art facility will have its own dedicatedLPG pipelines from the terminal to the exclusively allocated jetty at the port. One other very important feature is the compliance to global safety, operations and industry standards. It will have its own fire and total safety systems, which will monitor the site automatically around the clock with some of the most advanced fire safety systems installed including own reserve fire water system. Operations are driven through a very advanced pneumatic system to prompt more safety,” commented Mr. Li Yuping, Chairman of HQC.
The LAUGFS Terminal at Hambantota will be certified by aleading global inspecting body in every respect and will serve as a common regional break-bulk LPG facility.
LAUGFS Gas was established in 2001 with its entry into the local LPG downstream industry, and has since expanded rapidly to become a dominant player in the energy sector. In 2010, LAUGFS Gas PLC was listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange with an IPO drawing an unprecedented response. It has since expanded its energy presence beyond Sri Lanka with the acquisition of one of the largest LPG downstream players in Bangladesh, becoming the first energy conglomerate to become a multinational. Its presence in the Power & Energy sector has been further strengthened over the yearsthrough its subsidiaries LAUGFS Maritime and LAUGFS Power. LAUGFS Maritime engages in international LPG transportation with its own fleet of LPG vessels. LAUGFS Power operates in the renewable energy sector, with substantial interests in hydro and solar power generation and is currently setting up the largest solar power project in the country. LAUGFS Gas PLC has further diversified interests in vehicle emission testing, leisure and property & real estate sectors through Eco Sri, LAUGFS Leisure and LAUGFS Property.
China Huanqiu Contracting & Construction Corporation (HQC), assigned to build the LAUGFS terminal, is the largest engineering company in China. With a history ofaround 60 years, HQC has built a global reputation for executing multi-billion dollar projects including massive oil and gas terminals and storage projects, cross country and intercontinental pipelines for petrol and gas industry, petro-chemical plants, refineries, fertilizer plants to name but a few. They are a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC),one of the world’s major oilfield service providers and a globally reputed contractor in engineering construction.
HQC has successfully completed over 2,000 projects worldwide in more than 20 countries including USA, South America, China, Iran, Iraq, East Europe, Middle East and Africa. HQC’s engineering resources are second to none in the world with over 9,500 staff, consisting of approximately 500 masters degree holders, over 160 doctorate holders and over 1,000 senior engineers.HQC holds approximately 500 local and international invention awards with 41 competitive know-how’s and 10 innovative process technologies.