McDermott calling the shots at Shell’s mega gas project offshore Trinidad and Tobago

U.S. offshore engineering and construction player McDermott has been tasked with putting all the pieces in place for the development of a gas project off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago, thanks to an engineering, procurement, construction, installation (EPCI), hook-up, and commissioning contract with Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited, a subsidiary of the UK-headquartered energy giant Shell.

After securing a limited notice to proceed in November 2023, concerning the Manatee gas field development project’s EPCI contract, McDermott has now received the green light to proceed with the full project scope, encompassing the design, procurement, fabrication, transportation, installation, and commissioning of a wellhead platform, along with offshore and onshore gas pipelines in Trinidad and Tobago’s East Coast Marine Area (ECMA).

The award, which follows the delivery of the front-end engineering design (FEED), detailed engineering, and long lead procurement service contracts for the project’s initial design and execution planning, enables the U.S. player to provide design, installation, and commissioning services for a 32-inch gas pipeline that will connect the platform to a gas processing facility.

In addition, the contract scope entails design, procurement, installation, and testing services for a fiber optic cable. Located 60 miles or 100 kilometers off the southeast coast of Trinidad and Tobago, Manatee, which is slated to start production in 2027, is expected to reach peak production of approximately 104,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) (604 mmscf/d).

Mahesh Swaminathan, McDermott’s Senior Vice President of Subsea and Floating Facilities, highlighted: “This award leverages our unique, integrated EPCI capabilities and legacy of engineering excellence and innovation to successfully deliver large offshore platforms and complex subsea infrastructure worldwide. The Manatee project builds on our track record of successful project execution for Shell and exemplifies our commitment to building energy infrastructure required to meet demand.”

Shell, which set its cap on growing its LNG business by 20-30% by 2030, compared with 2022, with LNG liquefaction volumes planned to increase by 25-30%, relative to 2022, made a final investment decision (FID) for the Manatee gas development project in July 2024.

Based on the development plan, the hydrocarbons from the project will be brought to the market by drilling eight new development wells from a new, normally unmanned offshore platform from which gas and condensate will be delivered to shore via a new gas pipeline. Afterward, the hydrocarbons will be processed at National Gas Company’s existing Beachfield facility and sent for sale to both export and domestic markets.

The Manatee field is part of the giant Loran-Manatee field that straddles Trinidad and Tobago’s maritime boundary with Venezuela. The Loran-Manatee field was discovered in 1983 and subsequently appraised via four wells. While Loran represents the portion of the field in Venezuelan waters, Manatee stands for the portion of the field in Trinidad and Tobago waters.

The combined field has an estimated resource of 10.04 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas, of which 2.712 tcf is within the Manatee portion. Shell operates the field, with a 100% working interest under the sub-Block 6D production sharing contract (PSC). This project will enable the UK energy heavyweight to boost its liquified natural gas (LNG) arsenal. The ECMA is already home to the oil major’s largest gas-producing fields in the country including Dolphin, Starfish, Bounty, and Endeavour. 

Manatee’s gas is expected to provide backfill for Trinidad’s Atlantic LNG facility. Shell is pursuing ways to step up utilization at existing LNG plants as an important lever to maximize the potential of its existing assets in line with its ‘LNG Outlook 2024,’ which forecasts a rise in global demand for LNG of more than 50% by 2040.

McDermott won several new projects in 2024, including a new assignment in the Middle East with TotalEnergies, which will enable it to work on a solar-powered LNG project in Oman. Before this, the firm won 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.

In addition, 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.