CB&I and its client AG&P Industrial have completed and commissioned two 60,000 cubic metre full containment liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks at the LNGPH Ilijan LNG Facility in the Philippines, CB&I said. The company said the project was the first large-scale onshore LNG storage facility in the country.

The tanks use CB&I's all-steel full containment LNG tank design. Under its agreement with AG&P Industrial, the design uses 9% nickel steel for both the inner and outer tanks, rather than the reinforced concrete outer walls used in conventional full containment LNG tanks, the company said. CB&I said the design meets LNG industry technical and safety standards.

Commissioning of Tank 1 marked the world's first in-service full containment all-steel LNG tank, according to CB&I. Tank 2 was also fully operational after performance testing. CB&I said the facility demonstrated the technology, which it said offered enhanced economics, faster construction schedules and the safety benefits of full containment LNG storage.

CB&I said the tanks were built without lost-time incidents across more than one million work hours. Jack Aughenbaugh, vice president, operations – international at CB&I, said the commissioning was an achievement for everyone involved and that the project showed all-steel full containment LNG storage could work technically and made commercial sense, while bringing safety and operational advantages, better project economics and more certainty on schedules. He said CB&I had partnered with AG&P Industrial in support of LNGPH. Alexander Leo Gamboa, president and CEO of AG&P Industrial, said AG&P Industrial would work with CB&I again on future projects, after the delivery of the Philippines' first and largest LNG import terminal, which he said was on time, safe, reliable and cost-effective.