McDermott scores FEED assignment at oil project in Gulf of Mexico

U.S.-headquartered offshore engineering and construction player McDermott has secured a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract with Repsol Exploración México, a subsidiary of Spain’s Repsol, for two oil fields that form part of a development project in the Gulf of Mexico’s Block 29 off the coast of Mexico.

The deal will enable McDermott to work on the Polok and Chinwol field development project in the Gulf of Mexico by providing comprehensive FEED services for the project’s engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of subsea, umbilicals, risers, and flowlines (SURF). The project’s engineering delivery will be led from the firm’s Houston office.

Mahesh Swaminathan , McDermott’s Senior Vice President of Subsea and Floating Facilities, commented: “Our extensive experience in subsea engineering and in-house EPCI capabilities uniquely position us to deliver innovative and efficient FEED solutions for Repsol’s development of the Polok and Chinwol fields. We look forward to advancing this project with a strong focus on cost-effectiveness, safety, efficiency and quality delivery.”

The oil discoveries on the Polok and the Chinwol prospects in Block 29 offshore Mexico were disclosed in May 2020. The first one was described at the time as a play-opening discovery within the Early Miocene reservoir of the Salina Basin, part of the Sureste Basin. The second prospect encountered oil in formations of the Pliocene.

The Block 29 partners were Harbour Energy (25%), Repsol (operator, 30%), PC Carigali Mexico Operations, the Mexican subsidiary of Petronas (28.33%), and PTTEP Mexico E&P Limited (16.67%) until PTTEP’s subsidiary signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) in September 2024 to sell its entire stake in the block to Repsol, enabling the operator to increase its interest to 46.67%.

While the Polok-1 exploration well was drilled to a total depth of 2,620 meters and encountered more than 200 meters of net oil pay from two zones in the lower Miocene, the Chinwol-1 exploration well was drilled to a total depth of 1,850 meters and encountered 150 meters of net oil pay from three zones in the lower Pliocene. These exploration wells were drilled with the Maersk Valiant , renamed Noble Valiant drillship, following the Maersk Drilling—Noble Corporation merger.

The fields in Block 29 are located 88 kilometers from the Mexican coastline of Tabasco and approximately 50 kilometers west-northwest of the Zama discovery. These wells were drilled in water depths of 500 to 600 meters and are situated just 12 kilometers apart from each other. Last year, DORIS was hired to deliver concept engineering of the subsea production system (SPS) and SURF for the project.

Meanwhile, McDermott has won multiple new deals recently, including a multimillion-dollar decommissioning assignment off the coast of Australia, which is said to represent the firm’s largest secured project of this kind.