LNG

ExxonMobil Corp. and its partners in the huge oil and gas discoveries offshore the tiny nation of Guyana in the northeast corner of South America are moving forward on an LNG export project.

QatarEnergy, the leading global LNG produce, has signed a farm-in agreement with ExxonMobil Corp. to acquire a 40 percent participating interest in two exploration blocks offshore Egypt.

Under the terms of the agreement, which is subject to customary approvals by the government of Egypt, QatarEnergy will acquire a 40 percent working interest in each of the “Cairo” and “Masry” Offshore Concession Agreements, while operator ExxonMobil will retain the remaining 60 percent working interest.

“I am pleased with our entry into the Cairo and Masry offshore exploration blocks as they expand QatarEnergy’s presence in the Arab Republic of Egypt and extend our ambitious exploration program in-country,” said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the President and Chief Executive QatarEnergy.

Partners

“We look forward to working with our valued long-term strategic partner ExxonMobil, as well as with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, in this promising and prospective region,” explained Al-Kaabi.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Egyptian authorities and our partners for their valuable support and cooperation,” he added.

Financial details of the latest QatarEnergy-ExxonMobil transaction were not disclosed.

The Cairo and Masry offshore exploration blocks were awarded to ExxonMobil in January 2023 and cover an area of around 11,400 square kilometres in water depths of 2,000 to 3,000 metres.

The QatarEnergy deal in Egypt was signed amid some concern about one of the main overseas LNG ventures involving QatarEnergy, the US Golden Pass export project and also involving ExxonMobil.

The Golden Pass LNG project has acknowledged ongoing discussions regarding the future role of the US Zachry group in the engineering, procurement and construction joint venture also including McDermott of the US and Chiyoda Corp, of Japan.

Golden Pass talks

“Golden Pass LNG acknowledges ongoing discussions regarding the role of Zachry within the venture,” said a statement.

“Work continues to diligently complete the project, but these discussions may impact site activity in the near term,” the statement added.

The Golden Pass liquefaction facilities are being constructed at the existing import terminal located on the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Texas.

The three liquefaction Trains will have a nameplate capacity of around 16 million tonnes per annum of LNG and ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy are marketing their own volumes.

The Train 1 mechanical completion is still on track for completion at the end of 2024 with first LNG in the first half of 2025.

Clough Group, the Australian energy and civil construction company whose projects include the Waitsia LNG joint venture in Western Australia, has collapsed after a takeover deal fell through.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the oil and gas company and LNG producer in the United Arab Emirates, has awarded three framework agreements valued at 14.68 billion UAE dinars ($4 billion) for integrated drilling services to support the ongoing expansion of its oil and natural gas production activities.

McDermott, the US energy and LNG project engineering company, has outlined part of the scope of the planned Fujairah LNG production facility being developed in the fifth-largest emirate by area of the seven United Arab Emirates.

McDermott was awarded the contract by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) to provide front-end engineering and design for the plant.

The Fujairah project will be centred around a liquefaction plant with a total capacity of 9.6 million tonnes per annum.

Fujairah is located outside the Arabian Gulf on the Gulf of Oman. The shores of Fujairah extend for 70 kilometres along the coast from the city of Fujairah.

The emirate shares its boundaries with the emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah to the west and the south respectively.

In the north, Fujairah shares its international border with the Sultanate of Oman, an established LNG producer supplying customers in Asia.

Electric drives

“The plant will be designed with electric drives for the liquefaction compressors and will incorporate several features that significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, capitalizing on the experience McDermott,” said the Houston, Texas-based company.

McDermott said the Fujairah plant would benefit from the “robust capabilities and experience” of the US company in FEED performance.

Our biggest differentiator is our ability to execute this FEED on a fast-track basis incorporating all of the characteristics required to support the award of EPC contracts which are expected in 2023,” said Tareq Kawash, Senior Vice President for Onshore at McDermott.

McDermott was involved in initial phases of Adnoc’s LNG development in the late 1980s that resulted in the Das Island plant in Abu Dhabi, the second-largest emirate after Dubai.

The US company constructed the storage facilities for both LNG and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) on an EPC basis on Das Island.

“We are proud to continue our long history with Adnoc by playing an important role in helping to define the next phase of LNG development in the UAE,” added Kawash.

McDermott noted that it was one of the most experienced engineering and construction firms serving the LNG market and has delivered more than 30 LNG Pre-FEED and FEED projects over the past 10 years.

The Fujairah LNG facilities FEED will be performed by teams in McDermott's offices in London and the UAE.

Woodside Petroleum, the Australian oil and gas company and LNG operator, has received final approvals for the pipeline to shore and for the field development plan Scarborough Gas project to underpin the Pluto LNG expansion in Western Australia.

McDermott, the US engineering company, said its storage business, CB&I, has been awarded a contract by Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG project for two 200,000 cubic-metre storage tanks.

McDermott, the US LNG project engineering and oil and gas developer, has been awarded three prestigious contracts by the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) covering four oil and natural gas fields in the Arabian Gulf.

ABB, the Swiss-Swedish power and systems company, said it was awarded a key contract for the Mozambique LNG export project in southeast Africa being developed by French energy major Total.

Oct 21 (LNGJ) - McDermott International, the leading US energy and LNG engineering company, has appointed industry veteran Neil Bruce to its Board. Bruce is a British subject who was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen in 2012 for his services to energy engineering. “He started his career in the North Sea with Brown and Root, delivering ground-breaking offshore projects for 10 years, then moved to Atlantic Richfield where he delivered full lifecycle offshore gas development projects,” said McDermott.

   Bruce, from Aberdeen in Scotland, subsequently worked for Amec Plc as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer and Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin where he was President and Chief Executive until 2019. “Neil's leadership and decades of experience navigating our industry's dynamic operating environment strongly supplements our current board,” said McDermott CEO David Dickson.