J. Ray McDermott's continued success in Qatar

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The engineering services for the detailed design for the wellhead jackets, temporary work decks and subsea templates is also being executed by the EPCI giant under a separate work order to allow for accelerated jack-up rig drilling operations.

J. Ray will be required to coordinate a comprehensive interface management plan between the two work orders. The Barzan project is a multi-billion dollar scheme to develop a portion of Qatar's giant North Field to provide extra natural gas production for the domestic sector.

When asked about its successful bids, Stewart Mitchell, Vice President and General Manager of J. Ray McDermott Middle East and India, said:

'We have a long history of working successfully with Exxon Mobil and QP. Since 2004, of the 6 million plus fabrication man-hours spent on Qatar projects the TRIR rate remains the industry average. We have been working with QP and all the major oil and gas companies in Qatar, including the North Field, for the last 45 years. In the last 15 years alone we have designed, procured, fabricated and installed in excess of 130,000MT of facilities and laid 335km of pipelines in Qatari waters. Our pedigree in the area is undisputed.'

RasGas intends to execute the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) services offshore for the Barzan Project to include a natural gas offshore production system with conventional wellhead platforms, intrafield pipelines and export pipelines, to the onshore Barzan Gas Plant located at Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLC).

The FEED objective is to evolve the selected concept to the technically feasible, fit-for-purpose and optimal CAPEX solution for development of the Barzan gas reserves. The FEED results and recommendations will be used by RasGas and Exxon Mobil to perform internal reviews, seek shareholder project sanction and as the basis for an EPC Lump Sum Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the project offshore facilities.

The offshore production system will require the initial development of three 3 wellhead platforms to produce 1.7 BSCFD of non-associated gas. The export pipelines will be designed to transport 2.55 BSCFD to allow for potential future production capability. Overall project facilities shall be designed for 30-year service life.

The Barzan Project offshore development will consist of at least the following facilities:

- The topsides for three (3), 15-slot well bay, 6-leg deck wellhead platforms.
- Jacket (tripod type), and bridge connection for flare tower.
- Two (2) 28-inch CRA clad intrafield pipelines.
- Two (2) 32-inch export pipelines.

As a general objective, the Barzan Project offshore facilities will be designed such that the structures, facilities, equipment, materials and systems are compatible with and similar to the existing RasGas offshore facilities in the North Field to the maximum extent possible. The aim is to provide standardisation and consistency with project execution, operation and maintenance planning and execution, minimization of spare parts requirements, and facilitation of personnel training and safety provisions.

First-phase production at Barzan of 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas is scheduled for 2012. Eventual output will be almost double that amount.