US-based energy infrastructure contractor McDermott International has in recent weeks been awarded two major contracts in its Middle East region: one from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. worth more than $1 billion for new work on the United Arab Emirates’ Umm Shaif Integrated Gas Cap and Surface Pressure Boost Project; and another from Italian energy company Eni Ltd., which is expected to be worth up to $750 million to develop the Cronos gas field off the coast of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea as a new hub away from the Persian Gulf.
McDermott called the Umm Shaif 4 package a “mega” engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract in a statement last month, adding that the project would increase the country’s gas for domestic use and improve its LNG production and export. It is a layer of natural gas covering an underground oil reservoir that has been operating since 1958 off the coast of Abu Dhabi.
The US company said it and the Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan consortium in China “will provide the full scope for a new surface pressure boosting facility”, including the construction and installation of a jacket and top. . “Once completed, the topside will be among the heaviest offshore modules ever installed in the Middle East, McDermott said.
ADNOC and its partners announced a final investment decision in July for the $6.2 billion offshore project. Furn, owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates, is the operator and owns 60%, with TotalEnergies, Eni and China National Petroleum Corp. the rest
The development of Package 4 will expand production capacity to 600 million standard cubic feet per day, equivalent to approximately 10% of the UAE’s daily consumption. Additional phases could increase output to 1.5 billion standard cubic feet per day, ADNOC said.
Australian engineer and contractor Worley has been involved in the front-end engineering design of the project, according to ADNOC. McDermott’s UAE offices will oversee engineering and project management, with manufacturing taking 24 to 36 months at Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan Consortium’s Qingdao, China yard.
The US contractor said its contract with Eni Cyprus Ltd will boost the development of the new Cronos offshore gas field, discovered in 2022, and estimated at 3 trillion cubic feet. The contract covers the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of subsea infrastructure for the field in southwest Cyprus to enable it to connect to Eni’s existing offshore systems at Egypt’s Zohr gas field.
Gas produced at the Cronos field, due in 2028, will be transported to Zohr via a new pipeline and pumped ashore to be liquefied at Eni’s LNG facility in Damietta, Egypt and exported to Europe via pipelines and regasification units in Greece.
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