LNG

Tellurian Inc., the developer of the Driftwood LNG export project in Louisiana, has been the focus of attention at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas, with executives being asked whether they would consider a bid for the firm now put on the block by investment bank Lazards.

Tellurian Inc., the developer of the Driftwood LNG export project in Louisiana, has hired former McDermott International Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Samik Mukherjee to serve in the role of Executive Vice President and President of Driftwood Assets.

US energy and LNG engineering company McDermott International has been awarded a contract by Australian export plant operator Woodside to develop the Scarborough gas field in Western Australia for Pluto LNG.

Woodfibre LNG, the mid-scale project near the town of Squamish in British Columbia, has signed an engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction (EPFC) contract with Houston, Texas-based McDermott International.

McDermott said the EPFC contract was an important step in advancing detailed engineering and construction schedules in advance of Woodfibre LNG issuing a notice to proceed.

The proposed Woodfibre plant is owned by Pacific Energy Corp., a subsidiary of founder Sukanto Tanoto’s Royal Golden Eagle Group and whose main offices are in Singapore, Jakarta, Beijing and Hong Kong.

The Woodfibre project comprises a single liquefaction Train with 2,1 million tonnes per annum of LNG production and storage capacity of 250,000 cubic metres.

“Woodfibre LNG will use hydro-electricity for the main liquefaction process, and will include technology that enables liquefaction machinery to restart without flaring, a recycling system for boil-off gas, along with additional transformers, switchgear and transmission lines,” said a statement.

Woodfibre LNG already has two offtake agreements signed with UK major BP, meaning over 70 percent of Woodfibre's annual throughput has been sold.

“Our contract with McDermott is a positive step forward for this substantial piece of clean-energy infrastructure,” said Christine Kennedy, President of Woodfibre LNG.

Squamish nation

Woodfibre has engaged with the Canadian Squamish First Nation in designing the environmental aspects of the facility

“Together, we will be building the lowest-emission, most sustainable and innovative LNG export facility in the world,” added Kennedy.

McDermott will manage onshore construction, leveraging Canadian-based contractors and commitments included in Woodfibre LNG's Impact Benefit Agreements with the Squamish Nation.

It is estimated that 650 people will be working on the Woodfibre LNG site at peak construction.

“The EPFC contract commits McDermott to Woodfibre LNG's hiring priority for qualified Squamish Nation members and local workers first, followed by British Columbians and then other Canadians,” the statement added.

Chief Operating Officer of McDermott, Samik Mukherjee, said the Woodfibre award was an opportunity to further demonstrate the company’s LNG and modularization expertise.

In addition to the EPFC work, McDermott will also be responsible for commissioning and start-up services.

“Pre-installation work for the project is planned for early 2022 and will gradually ramp up to September 2023 when major construction is targeted to begin,” added Mukherjee.

Woodfibre LNG is expected to enter commercial service by the third quarter of 2027. 

McDermott International, the US energy and LNG engineering firm, and China’s Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corp, have received the conditional award of a $2-billion contract from France’s TotalEnergies to give the East African nation of Uganda oil and natural gas output.

The McDermott-Sinopec Services consortium received a Letter of Award for the contract for the Tilenga project located in the onshore Lake Albert Basin of Uganda.

Tilenga joint venture is the center-piece of an oil and gas development effort to bring investments of over $10Bln to Uganda and neighbouring Tanzania.

The Tilenga venture currently includes six oil fields and will feature 426 oil wells at full production.

“The projects for the development of the oil and gas resources of the Lake Albert region and a cross-border pipeline are situated in a sensitive social and environmental context that requires special measures for the environment and the rights of the local communities,” explained TotalEnergies.

The Lake Albert region in Uganda has major oil and gas resources, estimated at over one billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Uganda has chsoen to develop them under the Tilenga project, operated by TotalEnergies and with the participation of China National Offshore Oil Corp. and the Uganda National Oil Company.

Production will be delivered to the Tanzanian port of Tanga by a cross-border pipeline, built and operated by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) company.

“This important step further strengthens years of successful collaboration with TotalEnergies on a wide portfolio of world-class projects in the Offshore, Petrochemicals and LNG segments, where TotalEnergies is a major stakeholder,” explained Samik Mukherjee, McDermott's Group Senior Vice President for Projects.

The Tilenga project will be led from McDermott's UK offices located west of London and Sinopec's office in Yangzhou in China's Jiangsu province, north of the Yangtze River.

The consortium will provide engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) services for the development of an onshore oil field that will generate up to 200,000 barrels per day.

It will consist of 31 well pads connected to a central processing facility (CPF) via buried flowlines.

McDermott said that work was set to begin soon and first oil was expected to come on stream in 2025.

“This is a momentous and essential project for Uganda for the development of its national companies and citizens, and as we continue to grow our footprint in Africa, we are committed to expanding local content opportunities in the communities in which we operate,” stated Tareq Kawash, a Senior McDermott Vice President for operations outside the US,

“This is a first step which allows launching the detailed engineering and procurement activities before the final approval by the partners,” Kawash added.

Anadarko Petroleum, the US company that has agreed to be taken over by Occidental Petroleum and whose liquefied natural gas assets will be sold to French major Total, has awarded the main engineering contract for the onshore Mozambique LNG plant to a consortium of companies from Italy, the US and Japan.