McDermott awarded $1 bln contract for gas development project in Vietnam

U.S. headquartered McDermott, a provider of engineering and construction solutions, will execute a $1 billion contract for a sub-project of the $12 billion Block B-O Mon gas-to-power project off Vietnam's southwest coast.

A consortium of McDermott and Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC), the technical arm of state-owned Petrovietnam, has received a letter of award from Phu Quoc Petroleum Operating Company (Phu Quoc POC) for engineering, procurement, construction, installation (EPCI), hook-up and commissioning (HUC) services.

McDermott said in a Tuesday statement that under the full project scope, the consortium will provide EPCI and HUC services for a central production platform, living quarters platform, flare tower and bridges for the Block B gas development project off the southwest coast of Vietnam.

"Together, we will initiate this important groundwork as we finalize the full project scope and ultimately deliver another world-class project for Vietnam," said Mahesh Swaminathan, McDermott's senior vice president, subsea and floating dacilities.

Petrovietnam signed implementation deals for the long-delayed Block B-O Mon gas-to-power project on October 30, 2023. The oil and gas major was assigned as the new investor of the project in June, replacing state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN).

The $12-billion project includes sub-projects for developing Block B (upstream); Block B – O Mon pipeline (mainstream); and four gas-to-power plants – O Mon 1, 2, 3, 4 – (downstream). It is expected to exploit 5.06 billion cubic meters of gas a year, powering four power plants, a part of O Mon Power Center, with a total capacity of 3,800 MW.

Block B is the country’s second largest gas project after Ca Voi Xanh, or Blue Whale. Petrovietnam estimates that a total investment of $10 billion is needed to complete the Block B project, about 400 kilometers from Can Tho city. The corporation has pledged to deliver the first gas flow from Block B in the last quarter of 2026.