McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) and Baker Hughes, a GE company (NYSE:BHGE) have announced the selection of front-end engineering design (FEED) studies in advance of a substantial* engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for BP’s Tortue/Ahmeyim Field Development, a major gas project located on the maritime border of Mauritania and Senegal.

During this initial engineering phase, McDermott will work on defining the subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) scope for the project, while BHGE will focus on the subsea production system (SPS) scope. The FEED is scheduled to begin and complete this year. The agreement contains a mechanism to allow transition of the contract to a lump sum EPCI contract at a later date. McDermott will work jointly with BHGE to provide an optimized, integrated solution.

“We look forward to partnering again with BP on a significant project to support an efficient and streamlined process towards first gas,” said Scott Munro, Vice President of Americas, Europe and Africa. “Building on our relationship with BP on Angelin, McDermott’s focus on modernized project management and a collaborative approach will create a fully inclusive, open and transparent working environment for BP and major partners to ensure success. Our integrated approach with BHGE will bring the best total solution to BP that we believe will provide schedule and budget certainty.”

“We will be working closely with BP and McDermott on this strategically-important gas project, that will benefit from our extensive knowledge of deep water, large bore gas technologies and FEED capabilities,” said Graham Gillies, Vice President, Subsea Production Systems and Subsea Services at BHGE. “Increasingly, industry players are looking for commercially-innovative business models and integrated offerings that help reduce costs, while increasing efficiency and productivity. This is an excellent example of how the industry has evolved its approach, with global operators now embracing the benefits of early engagement with OEMs and service providers.”

McDermott expects to use the Project Lifecycle Management (PLM) module from its new digital platform Gemini XD to deliver advanced technology through project execution and the development of a digital twin of the complete system.

The project will also benefit from BHGE’s RealTrack digital collaboration tool which provides live, real-time reporting of schedule progress, document status and issues management for more efficient project execution. RealTrack is designed to help customers optimize their operations, respond quickly to arising issues and plan effectively for changing requirements as projects evolve.

Teams from McDermott and BHGE will perform the project management and FEED work from McDermott’s Epsom facility in the United Kingdom.

Project Details

The initial subsea infrastructure connects the first four wells consolidated through production pipelines leading to a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel. From here liquids are removed and the export gas is transported via a pipeline to the floating liquid natural gas (FLNG) hub terminal where the gas is liquefied.

The Tortue/Ahmeyim Field Development is located in the C-8 block off the shore of Mauritania and the Saint-Louis Profond block offshore Senegal. The Tortue discovery was made by Kosmos Energy, which farmed down its investment to BP in December 2016. BP now has the largest interest (~60%) among the four partners in the project and is the operator.

* - McDermott defines a substantial contract as between USD $500 million and USD $750 million.