McDermott International announced a double win in the Middle East today (25 January), including a contract for the largest offshore oil field in the world.
Its first “substantial contract,” from Saudi Aramco, is for engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) services in the Safaniya and Zuluf fields, offshore Saudi Arabia.
The brownfield project is part of a wider program to replace aging facilities with electrified platforms to enhance the potential of the fields. The contract includes the design, procurement, fabrication, transportation, installation, testing and pre-commissioning of nine slipover jackets and decks, subsea pipelines and cables, as well as the associated demolition of certain facilities, in the Safaniya field. The contract also includes one single well observation platform in the Zuluf field.
“McDermott’s partnership with Saudi Aramco developing the Safaniya field dates back more than 50 years,” said Linh Austin, McDermott VP, Middle East and Caspian. “We believe we are uniquely positioned to achieve Saudi Aramco’s accelerated schedule based on our unparalleled experience providing integrated solutions within the region and in shallow water development and installation.”
McDermott was also recently awarded a contract to provide a fast-track EPCI solution for four jackets and three gas observation platforms for Saudi Aramco.
The Safaniya oil field, located approximately 125mi (201km) north of Dhahran in the Arabian Gulf, is currently the largest offshore oil field in the world. McDermott’s work in the Safaniya field dates back to 1964, with the installation of 62 platforms and a large number of associated flexibles, umbilicals, flow/trunk pipelines and power/composite cables. Over the last six years, McDermott has been involved with three major electrification projects in the Safaniya field, which included 13 new platforms and 34 platform upgrades and modifications. During this period, McDermott installed Saudi Aramco’s largest platform at 6600 tons and the world’s longest 230kV composite cable at approximately 29mi (46.7km).
Work on the contract is expected to begin immediately and will be reflected in McDermott’s Q4 2016 backlog.
McDermott plans to use its engineering and procurement teams in Dubai, UAE and its recently opened office in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Construction will take place at McDermott’s fabrication facilities in Dubai and Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Vessels from McDermott’s global fleet are scheduled to perform the installation work.
McDermott’s second award is for an offshore pipelay contract in the Middle East.
The pipelay contract, sizeable in value, includes the engineering, procurement and installation of two oil pipelines offshore. Work on this contract is expected to be completed by the end of Q2 2018.
“This contract marks another example where our clients in the Middle East recognize our integrated customer-driven solutions that are consistently delivered with outstanding safety and within cost and schedule,” said Austin. “This award demonstrates our ability to offer our customers a flexible, tailored project solution that meets their needs and that uses our multi-purpose assets.”
Work on the contract is expected to begin immediately and will be reflected in McDermott’s Q4 2016 backlog.
Detailed engineering and procurement is expected to be carried out by McDermott’s specialist teams in Dubai, UAE with vessels from the McDermott global fleet scheduled to undertake the installation work in 2018.