PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Project house Leighton Holdings and its joint venture partner Thiess has been awarded a A$260-million contract at the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, in Western Australia.

The joint venture would be responsible for the design and construction of the project’s breakwater and material offloading facility near Onslow, with the project creating more than 300 jobs.

Thiess MD Bruce Munro noted that the partnership with Leighton created a new specialist marine capability to support the booming LNG sector and continues Thiess’ involvement in the industry.

The contract was Thiess’ second win on the Wheatstone project, having previously secured a microtunneling contract with project owner Chevron.

Wheatstone, which would deliver its first LNG by 2016, includes the development of offshore gas fields, a 225 km pipeline, port facilities and an initial two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 8.9-million tons a year.

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