Shell awards McDermott pipeline contract

June 9, 2000
Shell Deepwater Services, a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell, acting on behalf of Equilon Pipeline Co. LLC and Nemo Gas Gathering Co., awarded J. Ray McDermott Inc. a contract to install oil and gas pipelines for Shell's Brutus tension leg platform (TLP) development project in the Gulf of Mexico, officials said Friday.


Shell Deepwater Services, a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell, acting on behalf of Equilon Pipeline Co. LLC and Nemo Gas Gathering Co., awarded J. Ray McDermott Inc. a contract to install oil and gas pipelines for Shell's Brutus tension leg platform (TLP) development project in the Gulf of Mexico, officials said Friday.

Those export pipelines are to be installed this summer utilizing McDermott's newly upgraded dynamically positioned vessel Derrick Barge 16.

McDermott will install a 20-in. diameter 24-mile oil pipeline from South Timbalier Block 301 to Green Canyon Block 158. Additionally, a 20-in. diameter natural gas pipeline will be laid about 23 miles from Ship Shoal Block 332 to Green Canyon Block 158.

The project also requires McDermott to install more than 15,000 feet of steel catenary risers (SCRs). Water depths for the Brutus pipeline project vary from 333 to 3,010 feet.

Financial terms were not disclosed for the contract, the second for McDermott on the Brutus project. Last year, the company was awarded a contract to fabricate the five modules that form the topsides for the Brutus TLP. Those modules currently are under construction near Morgan City, La., and scheduled for delivery early next year.

Derrick Barge16 will install the pipelines and SCRs utilizing its new modular S-Lay system.

McDermott previously completed work on four other Shell TLP projects. Brutus marks the fifth TLP deck that McDermott has fabricated for Shell.

The Brutus development encompasses two leases in the Green Canyon area, approximately 165 miles southwest of New Orleans.

J. Ray McDermott, a subsidiary of McDermott International Inc., is a worldwide marine construction company. Its services include fabrication, transportation, and installation of new and refurbished offshore platforms, installation of offshore pipelines, and design and installation of subsea facilities for the offshore oil and gas industry.