JGC Corporation has been awarded a lump-sum turnkey contract by MEGA S.A. of Argentina to construct a natural gas processing plant and a long-distance pipeline, in a joint venture with CPC (an Argentine engineering company) and SAIPEM (an Italian engineering contractor).

MEGA S.A. is a joint venture company between YPF (Argentina's state-run petroleum company), PETROBRAS (Brazil's state-owned petroleum corporation), and The Dow Chemical Co.

This project includes an NGL recovery unit to be located in Loma de La Lata, at the foot of the Andes, an NGL fractionation unit and a product shipping jetty to be built in Bahia Blanca, on the Atlantic coast, and a pipeline to connect the two sites over a total length of 600 kilometers. The new facilities will process 1,280 MMSCFD of natural gas.

The three-party joint venture(JGC/CPC/SAIPEM) is responsible for the design, procurement and construction services for the overall facilities. Completion is scheduled for September 2000.

JGC's experience in Argentina includes two petroleum refining plants, and one petrochemical plant, all of which were performed for YPF. This is the first major new project to be executed there by JGC in many years. JGC is now eager to pursue other projects in South America.