US offshore engineering and construction group McDermott has been tasked with putting all the pieces together to develop a gas project offshore Trinidad and Tobago, thanks to an engineering, procurement, construction, installation (EPCI), connection and commissioning contract with Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited, a subsidiary of UK-headquartered energy giant Shell.
After obtaining a temporary permit for construction in November 2023, Manatee Gas Field Under the EPCI contract for the development project, McDermott has now been given the green light to proceed with the full project scope, which includes the design, procurement, fabrication, transportation, installation and commissioning of a well platform and offshore and onshore gas pipelines in the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA) of Trinidad and Tobago.
The award follows the delivery of front-end engineering design (FEED), detailed engineering and long-lead procurement services contracts for the project’s initial design and execution planning and enables the US company to provide design, installation and commissioning services for a 32-inch gas pipeline that will connect the platform to a gas processing plant.
In addition, the contract scope includes the engineering, procurement, installation and testing of a fiber optic cable. Manatee is located 60 miles or 100 kilometers off the southeast coast of Trinidad and Tobago and is scheduled to begin production in 2027. Peak production is expected to reach approximately 104,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) (604 mmscf/d).
Mahesh SwaminathanSenior Vice President of Subsea and Floating Assets at McDermott, emphasized: “This contract leverages our unique, integrated EPCI capabilities and our heritage of engineering excellence and innovation to successfully deliver large offshore platforms and complex subsea infrastructure globally. The Manatee project builds on our track record of successful project delivery for Shell and demonstrates our commitment to building the energy infrastructure needed to meet demand.”
Shell aims to grow its LNG business by 20-30% by 2030 compared to 2022, with LNG liquefaction volumes increasing by 25-30% compared to 2022. In July 2024, Shell made a final investment decision (FID) for the Manatee Gas Development Project.
According to the development plan, the hydrocarbons from the project will be brought to market by drilling eight new production wells from a new, normally unmanned offshore platform, from which gas and condensate will be delivered to shore via a new gas pipeline. The hydrocarbons will then be processed at the National Gas Company’s existing facility at Beachfield and sent for sale to both the export and domestic markets.
The Manatee Field is part of the huge Loran Sea Cow Field that straddles the maritime border between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. The Loran-Manatee field was discovered in 1983 and subsequently evaluated using four wells. While Loran represents the part of the field in Venezuelan waters, Manatee represents the part 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 are in the Manatee part. Shell operates the field with a 100 percent interest under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSC) for sub-block 6D. This project will enable the British energy giant to expand its arsenal of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The ECMA already hosts the oil giant’s largest gas producing fields in the country, including dolphin, starfish, BountyAnd Make an effort.
Manatee’s gas is intended to replace Trinidad’s AtlanticLNG Shell is pursuing opportunities to increase the utilization of existing LNG plants in order to maximize the potential of its existing assets in line with its “LNG plant“Look 2024” predicts that global demand for LNG will increase by more than 50% by 2040.
McDermott won several new projects in 2024, including a new contract in the Middle East from TotalEnergies that will enable the company to work on a solar-powered LNG project in Oman. The company previously signed a contract with Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering (MMHE) for the first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project offshore Malaysia.
As part of a consortium with Baker Hughes, the company recently completed the installation of subsea infrastructure for Inpex’s gas field offshore Australia. The US player also secured an offshore transportation, installation and commissioning contract with PTTEP Sabah Oil Limited (PTTEP) in March 2024 for a project offshore Malaysia that it had worked on in the early 2010s.
In addition, the company was awarded two engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contracts for the development of the next phase of the largest oil field offshore Qatar.
