McDermott's Batam facility

McDermott says Qatar award is one of the largest single contracts in company history

U.S. offshore engineering and construction player McDermott has confirmed a recent contract award with QatarEnergy, saying it is one of the largest single contracts McDermott has been awarded in its company history. The structures will be fabricated in a facility with low-carbon or renewable power as part of McDermott’s sustainability commitments.

McDermott's Batam facility; Source: McDermott

QatarEnergy last week awarded a major engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract for the offshore scope of its North Field Expansion Project in Qatar to McDermott. The field, located off Qatar, is one of the largest single non-associated natural gas fields in the world.

The expansion project is part of its efforts to increase Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity from 77 million tons per annum (MTPA) to 126 MTPA, through the North Field East (NFE) and North Field South (NFS) expansion projects, with the first LNG expected in 2025.

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A week later, McDermott confirmed the award and said the project would be managed and engineered from its Doha office with significant fabrication taking place at QFAB, the McDermott-Nakilat joint venture fabrication yard in Qatar, building end-to-end execution capability in Qatar.

The scope of the contract includes the fabrication and installation of eight wellhead topsides (WHT) for NFE and a further five WHT for NFS. Furthermore, the significant subsea pipeline scope includes over 300 miles (500 kilometres) of pipelines and, in addition, McDermott will install over 140 miles (225 kilometres) of 33kV subsea cables and associated works.

For the first time, four of these WHT, plus all subsea infrastructure, will be fabricated in QFAB, improving the in-country execution platform to support future energy developments. The remaining fabrication will be done in collaboration with McDermott’s facility in Batam, Indonesia.

Samik Mukherjee, McDermott’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, said: “As part of the NFE LNG complex, the offshore facilities are an essential contributor toward the energy transition goals of COP-26. In line with McDermott’s overarching sustainability commitments, we will continue to use our digital carbon footprint tool, ArborXD, to monitor and proactively manage GHG emissions during the project.

“The structures delivered from our yard in Batam will be the first to be fabricated there following our recent commitment to import a low-carbon or renewable power into the facility.”

McDermott in August last year set up its emission reduction targets, aiming to reach a 50 per cent reduction in scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, as well as a 35 per cent reduction in scope 3 GHG emissions for ten key supply chain categories by 2030.