Escal has submitted its budget to the Ministry of Industry with planned 2009 spending of $467 million (€274 million). The budget outlines spending for permitting, engineering, procurement and land acquisition. Escal has issued invitations to tender for facilities such as the wellhead platform and the process platform as well as long-lead-time items including compressors, drying units, a jack-up rig and equipment related to drilling such as casing and wellhead and production trees. These will be followed with additional invitations to tender for other items including the subsea pipeline. The formal Notice to Proceed was issued by ACS to the contractors on March 18, 2009.

Escal expects to fund its spending program through interim financing until the project financing is completed and made available. Enagas has contracted and will pay for construction of the pipeline that connects the Castor onshore facility to the national gas pipeline grid.