Saudi Aramco hires McDermott for subsea cable installation

McDermott International, Inc. has been awarded a substantial contract to provide the electrical power supply system for Saudi Aramco in the Abu Ali and Khursaniyah fields in the Arabian Gulf. This contract is included in McDermott’s fourth quarter 2013 backlog.

The project includes the procurement, construction, and installation of two 20-kilometer 230 kV subsea circuits routed offshore to connect land based facilities. The cables weigh approximately 95 kilograms per meter.

“The subsea cables for this project are some of the largest ever transported and installed in the Arabian Gulf,” said David Dickson, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We successfully completed another similar 230-kV cable installation project in similar conditions earlier this year. This gave us a unique insight into the project execution requirements for such complex installation work, and we are pleased that Saudi Aramco has shown repeat confidence in us with this award.”

According to a press release issued by McDermott, installing cables of such magnitude in extremely shallow water presents a variety of complex challenges. Technical modifications to an installation barge in the McDermott fleet enable it to lay the cable in extremely shallow water. Project completion, including hookup and commissioning, is expected to be in the third quarter of 2015.