LNG

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.

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.

Qatar Petroleum's North Field South (NFS) project has given the front-end engineering and design work to US engineering firm McDermott International.

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.

McDermott International and Baker Hughes-GE, the US energy services companies, have been awarded substantial subsea contracts by BP to develop the Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim natural gas fields that will underpin several floating LNG projects offshore Mauritania and Senegal.

The initial subsea infrastructure supplied will connect the first four of 12 wells consolidated through production pipelines leading to a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

From here liquids are removed and the export gas is transported via a pipeline to the FLNG production hulls where the gas is liquefied.

McDermott defines a substantial contract as between $500 million and $750M. The contract award will be reflected in McDermott's first-quarter 2019 backlog.

McDermott and BH-GE said the contract follows an initial front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase awarded in March 2018 when both companies worked together to define the technology and equipment scope for a four-well development phase.

Project management and engineering teams from BP, BHGE and McDermott will remain co-located at McDermott's London offices for this next phase.

McDermott and BH-GE will supply subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) and subsea production systems (SPS) equipment.

McDermott said it planned to use its upgraded “Amazon” vessel, “DLV 2000”, “North Ocean 101” and third-party vessels to support the installation scheduled to begin in late 2020.

“The ‘Amazon’ modifications are scheduled to be completed before the installation campaign begins and will include a multi-joint (hex) J-Lay system to handle the most challenging ultra-deepwater projects as well as the addition of a multi-joint facility, dual pipe loading cranes and additional power generation,” explained McDermott.

McDermott-designed pipeline and riser structures will be fabricated at its yard in Batam, Indonesia.

BH-GE will provide five large-bore deepwater horizonal xmas trees (DHXTs), a 6-slot dual bore manifold, a pipeline end manifold, subsea distribution units (SDUs), three subsea isolation valves (SSIVs), diverless connections and subsea production control systems, specifically designed to enable the future integration of additional wells for the first phase of the development.

“This contract marks a number of firsts. Our first significant subsea EPCI project in West Africa, the first project using our state of the art pipelay vessel ‘Amazon’ and our support of BP's first entry into Senegal and Mauritania,” said Tareq Kawash, McDermott's Senior Vice President in the region.

“Our collaboration with BH-GE allows us to offer BP an integrated approach that builds on our proven solutions. We look forward, along with BHGE, to delivering this landmark project to BP with the highest levels of safety and quality,” stated Kawash.

Graham Gillies, BH-GE's Vice President for Subsea Production Systems, said the company aimed to deliver the best-in-class solution to BP with cost-efficiency and industry-leading safety.

“This major deepwater gas development is strategically important for Mauritania and Senegal's domestic and global gas supply, and supports the industry's drive for a more sustainable, lower carbon future,” added Gilles.

BH-GE has also signed an agreement to become a “Country Partner” of “Invest in Africa's (IIA) Senegal chapter”, of which BP is a founding member.

The IIA helps local suppliers to connect with international oil and gas companies, increasing the opportunities for local businesses to support large-scale projects, and training African suppliers on core business skills and entrepreneurship.

Energy and LNG engineering companies McDermott International and Chicago Bridge and Iron (CB&I) have revealed their executive leadership team and integrated organizational structure for the new combined company under their agreed merger.