RasGas is expected to award the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for two more LNG trains at its plant in Ras Laffan, Qatar, as part of capacity expansion this month.

The $2 billion project is meant to cater to the needs of the India-based Petronet LNG, with whom RasGas has entered into a 25-year contract. Each train will have a capacity of 4 million tonnes a year.

Onshore front-end engineering and design (Feed) for the two new trains was carried out by Japan's Chiyoda Corp, while the US-based J Ray McDermott Engineering handled the offshore work.

Four companies are reported to have been shortlisted for the EPC contract. They are: JGC Corporation of Japan (with Kellogg Brown & Root and Technip of France), Bechtel of the US (with Athens-based Consolidated Contractors International Company), Chiyoda of Japan (with Snamprogetti of Italy) and Foster Wheeler of the US (with Tecnimont of Italy and Sofregaz of France).

RasGas currently operates two trains, each with a capacity of 3 million tonnes of LNG a year.