Nigeria’s Southfield Petroleum Limited, has signed an equipment, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) to build a 250mcf/d gas processing facility in Nigeria. The project, which is worth $198m, has been planned for completion by 2018 and is expected to be sponsored by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), informed Ecofin Agency.

The company said in a statement that the EPC contract also made provision for the construction of facilities such as a captive Jetty, 24MW captive power, a 14,000 tons Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage facility, 3,000 tons LPG barge, office buildings, infrastructure, the construction of an Amine Unit to extract the carbon dioxide from the gas, and a robust training program for Nigerians, The Guardian reported.

Southfield Petroleum said: “The facilities will be operational at the Utorogu gas field by second quarter of 2018 and will have an annual production of 200,000 tons of LPG. The facility will be initially operated by CMEC while Nigerians are being trained to ensure technology transfer and capacity development.”

CMEC’s Group Vice President, Jin Chunsheng, led the company’s delegation during the signing ceremony, and was received in Abuja by the Southfield Petroleum team, led by the Managing Director, Patrick Ndiomu.