ExxonMobil Iraq oil processing facility design, build contract awarded to SNC-Lavalin

ExxonMobil Iraq facility to be built in 26 months

ExxonMobil Iraq oil processing facility will be designed and built by SNC-Lavalin. SNC-Lavalin photo.

MONTREAL –  SNC-Lavalin says its Kentz group has been awarded the contract to design and build the new ExxonMobil Iraq oil processing facility.

The facility in the Al Basra province is expected to be completed in 26 months.

No value for the contract was provided.

Maxim Sytchev of Dundee Capital Markets estimated SNC-Lavalin’s (TSX:SNC) share of project at about $500 million, with the same amount going to a regional partner.

The contract would represent about 11 per cent of SNC-Lavalin’s oil and gas sector backlog and four per cent of the company’s $12.4 billion in contract bookings.

The analyst said the contract underlines SNC’s ability to source oil and gas work globally, something Sytchev said investors don’t fully appreciate.

The contract was announced a couple of days after Canada’s largest engineering and construction firm announced the replacement of its CEO with Neil Bruce, who previously headed the oil and gas segment and was instrumental in acquiring U.K.-based Kentz for $2.1 billion.

By Ross Marowits of the Canadian Press