Roundup: YPFB plant, Technip backlog, LNG offtake, new official

Bolivia's hydrocarbons industrialization, commercialization, transport and storage deputy minister Álvaro Arnez announced that construction of state hydrocarbons company YPFB's Gran Chaco liquids separation project in Tarija passed the halfway mark. The US$600mn-plus plant is due online next year and will process a maximum of 32Mm3/d gas to produce up to 2,247t/d LPG, 144t/d ethane, 1,658b/d natural gasoline and 1,044b/d isopentane. *** French oil and gas services company Technip's Americas backlog at end-June represented 28.3% or 4.3bn euros (US$5.7bn) of the group's 15.2bn-euro backlog. The company's Americas first half revenue rose 20.8% to 1.49bn euros from 1H12, according to Technip's latest earnings report. *** Alberto Díaz, president of Uruguay's port authority ANP, said a resolution adopted by the International Association of Ports and Harbors that recognizes LNG as a fuel for ships "could open new possibilities" for the country's regasification project. The official made the announcement during a meeting of local ports entity Comisión Coordinadora Honoraria de Puertos, Uruguay's executive said in a statement. *** And Chile's state oil company Enap announced that Fernán Gazmuri Plaza will replace Rodolfo Krause Lubascher as director effective August 1.