CB&I, a wholly owned unrestricted subsidiary of U.S. offshore engineering and construction player McDermott, has landed a new assignment in the Middle East with France’s energy giant TotalEnergies, which will enable it to work on a solar-powered liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Oman.
With a contract value between $100 million and $250 million, the deal with Marsa Liquefied Natural Gas LLC, a joint venture between TotalEnergies and OQ, will enable CB&I to handle the engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) of a full containment concrete LNG storage tank, located in Oman’s Port of Sohar.
The company’s scope of work for the Marsa LNG project entails turnkey EPC services for a 165,000m3 full containment concrete LNG storage tank and associated piping to grade. The project delivery will be executed in Oman, where CB&I has been continually present since 1968, with support from the firm’s Dubai office.
Cesar Canals , President & CEO of CB&I, commented: “Through this project, CB&I will contribute to the construction of one of the lowest GHG emissions intensity LNG plants ever built and the energy transition market in Oman.
“It supports our ambition to build storage for projects that will help provide reliable energy to markets with a reduced environmental impact. It will also pave the way for similar storage opportunities in the future and continues our long history of execution excellence in the Middle East, specifically Oman.”
McDermott explains that the work on the project is expected to start with construction activities in the fourth quarter of 2024. However, the completion of the project is targeted in 2028. Marsa LNG, which has been designed to run on solar power, is envisioned to serve as the first LNG bunkering hub in the Middle East.
The final investment decision (FID) for the project was taken last month and a dedicated 300 MWp PV solar plant would be built to cover 100% of the annual power consumption of the LNG plant, enabling a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with a GHG intensity below 3 kg CO2e/boe.
The main engineering, procurement, and construction contracts have been awarded to Technip Energies for the LNG plant and CB&I for the 165,000 m3 LNG tank. The LNG produced will primarily be used as a marine fuel to reduce the shipping industry’s carbon footprint, and the quantities not sold as bunker fuel will be off-taken by TotalEnergies and OQ.
McDermott won several new projects in 2024, including a deal with Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering (MMHE) for the first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project located offshore Malaysia. As part of a consortium with Baker Hughes, the company recently wrapped up the installation of subsea infrastructure for Inpex’s gas field offshore Australia.
The U.S. player also secured an offshore transportation, installation, and commissioning contract in March 2024 with PTTEP Sabah Oil Limited (PTTEP) for a project offshore Malaysia on which it had worked in the early 2010s.
Prior to this, the firm picked up two engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning (EPCIC) contracts for the development of the next phase of the largest oil field off the coast of Qatar.