Japan’s JGC Corp has signed a $355 million deal with the Bahrain National Gas Company (Banagas) to build the expansion of a gas plant in the kingdom, Bahrain’s state news agency reported.

The plant is expected to accommodate 350 million cubic feet (mcf) of additional associated gas from the Bahrain oilfield, the agency reported.

A signing ceremony was held under the patronage of Bahrain’s Minister of Energy Dr Abdul-Hussain bin Ali Mirza.

The agreement includes the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the Banagas Expansion Project.

The agreement was signed by Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the chief executive of Banagas and Yoshihiro Shigehisa, the chairman emeritus of JGC Group, at a ceremony held at Four Seasons Bahrain Hotel, said the BNA report.

Dr Mirza said the agreement was a significant milestone for Banagas expansion and added to the achievements of the energy sector in Bahrain. The project is among the many other Noga strategic projects aimed at securing continued economic growth in the country, he said.

Dr Mirza said that setting up of the gas project by JGC further enhanced the historical relations between the company and the oil companies in Bahrain.

Three international companies had participated in the tendering process at the design and construction phase of the gas plant, a design which had to accommodate 350 million cubic feet of associated gas from the Bahrain Oil Field and produce liquefied petroleum gas and naphtha, utilising re-injection pressure and excess gas. The plant will be equipped to process dry gas.

The project is expected to take 32 months to be ready for a trial run and start actual operations in September 2018. It is one of the largest projects implemented by the company in terms of capital, energy utilisation and providing job opportunities to Bahrainis.

Bahrain’s National Oil & Gas Authority (Noga) and The Oil and Gas Holding Company (nogaholding) had in December last signed project agreements for the development of an LNG receiving and regasification terminal in the kingdom with a consortium of Canada’s Teekay LNG Partners (Teekay LNG), South Korea’s Samsung C&T (Samsung) and the Gulf Investment Cooperation (GIC).