Clough said the contract was awarded by Austrian oil and gas outfit, OMV, and will be for the engineering, design and procurement for the Sawan gas field located 300km north-east of Karachi.

The project's first phase includes surface-based facilities and flowlines for four wellsites, a central processing plant to produce 170 million cubic feet of gas per day, as well as a 15km gas pipeline. The work will also include access roads, an airstrip and permanent living accommodation.

"This project marks a return to Pakistan for the Clough Group. We undertook two major gas projects there between 1992 and 1997, which gave us sound, practical knowledge of working conditions in the country," Clough managing director Dr Brian Hewitt said.

As for the security issues, Dr Hewitt said Clough was very mindful of the security situation in the region, however safety of his employees has always been the top priority. "The potential risks for our personnel have been fully assessed and strategies put in place to cover what we believe are the range of possible scenarios," he said.

The announcement takes Clough Group's current work-in-hand to a record of $918 million, up 24.5 per cent on the same time last year. Clough started the 2001-2002 fiscal year with work-in-hand of $740 million.