J. Ray McDermott wins Gulf of Mexico contract

23-04-02 J. Ray McDermott's Jebel Ali fabrication facility will build a key part of a spar platform in the Gulf of Mexico. A subsidiary of McDermott International, the local entity was awarded a turnkey engineer-procure-construct-install (E-PCI) contract by Murphy Oil to provide a spar platform for the Front Runner Field Development Project in 1,067 meters of water in Green Canyon blocks 338 and 339, Gulf of Mexico.

The project will be coordinated by J. Ray McDermott's Houston-based spar solution development company -- SparTEC. The Jebel Ali facility will build the 29 metre diameter, 179-metre long truss spar hull, which will accommodate the heavier topside payload requirement of the project and deeper water depth in the Front Runner field. The three-level production deck will be built at the company's fabrication facility in Veracruz, and once completed will be delivered to the Harbour Island yard near Corpus Christi, Texas, for final outfitting, prior to installation.
"This is the second spar hull fabrication project for our Jebel Ali yard and the third for our eastern hemisphere operations in the last two years," said Kurt Nelson, vice-president and general manager of J. Ray McDermott's eastern hemisphere operations. "We have invested a lot of time and money on upgrading our Jebel Ali facilities and are confident in our ability to provide expertly managed EPCI solutions and our ability to adapt to the changing needs of the offshore oil and gas industry."

Detailed engineering is underway and is expected to continue on a fast track basis with the fabrication process, which is due to commence mid-2002. Once installed, the floating platform will be able to handle 60,000 barrels of crude oil and 110 mm cfpd of natural gas from Front Runner and several other nearby prospects operated by Murphy Oil.
Production is scheduled to start in the first half of 2004.