McDermott to engineer Zama offshore facilities, delivers Abkatun platform

Offshore staff

HOUSTON – Talos Energy has contracted McDermott International to provide concept and engineering services for the Zama field development in block 7 of the Sureste basin offshore Mexico.

The scope includes concept selection and follow-on pre-front-end engineering design (pre-FEED).

McDermott will execute the program with io oil & gas consulting, the company’s joint venture with Baker Hughes, a GE company. It will manage all phases of the engineering services process with a work share of engineers and designers in Mexico City, and with continuous support from io and input from Talos.

Conceptual selection work has started and should be completed next summer.

Richard Heo, svp for North, Central and South America at McDermott, said: “Early engagement during the conceptual and pre-FEED phases is a strategy that is proving beneficial to our customers.

“With high estimated oil production, designing an efficient concept solution, in combination with the integrated pre-FEED studies, allows us to help Talos maximize the value of this important greenfield project.”

Zama, in a water depth of around 540 ft (165 m), was discovered in July 2017, and was the first exploration well drilled offshore Mexico by a private sector operator.

Talos estimates recoverable resources at 400-800 MMboe with a probable peak production of around 150 MMboe. Appraisal drilling should start soon with two additional wells and first oil is anticipated by 2022.

The company’s partners are Sierra Oil and Gas and Premier Oil.

McDermott has also hosted an event at its fabrication complex in Altamira, Tamaulipas in Mexico to mark the sail away ofPemex’s PB-Abkatun-A2 oil and gas production platform.

This is the contractor’s largest project to date for Pemex in terms of size and total value. It was awarded the $454-million engineering, procurement, construction and installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contract in June 2016.

The scope of the work ranged from basic engineering design to tie-in and commissioning of the jacket, deck, four tripod jackets, and four bridges, each of around 100 m.

Two of the tripods were designed for use as part of the flare system with the other two supporting the two bridges connecting PB-Abkatun-A2 with the existing production complex.

The three-level topsides was also the largest ever fabricated at Altamira.

Installations offshore will start later this month in the Bay of Campeche using McDermott’sAmazon, DB50, and Intermac 650 vessels.

Commissioning will begin after installation of the 16,534-ton (15,000-metric ton) platform in 124 ft (38 m) of water. This will provide replacement and expansion capabilities to the existing Abkatun Pol Chuc facilities.

Following commissioning, the platform will be ready to eventually produce 220,000 b/d of oil and 150 MMcf/d of gas.

11/15/2018