McDermott International did not halt work on QatarEnergy’s massive North Field East expansion project during the Iran war, Chief Executive Michael McKelvy said on Tuesday, even as the conflict imposed operational constraints.
McDermott is responsible for installing offshore infrastructure that will transport natural gas from Qatar’s North Field to liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants currently under construction at Ras Laffan Industrial City.
“We never stopped working on the project, even while the war was ongoing. There were some limitations, but the work did not stop,” McKelvy told Reuters on the sidelines of the Energy Projects Conference (EPC) in Houston.
He said the company expects to deliver its portion of the project on schedule once conditions stabilize.
“This is what we always aim to do — deliver projects on time and on budget — and we expect to do the same in this case,” McKelvy said.
The North Field East (NFE) expansion, the first phase of QatarEnergy’s broader LNG growth strategy, is expected to increase the country’s export capacity by about 32 million tonnes per year, reinforcing its position as one of the world’s largest LNG exporters.
McDermott’s role focuses on offshore facilities, including platforms, subsea pipelines and related infrastructure that feed gas to the new LNG trains. The liquefaction plants themselves are being built by a consortium led by Technip Energies TE.PA, which is responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction of the onshore facilities.
Robert Scott, managing director for the Americas at Technip Energies, said the pace of development for the expansion could depend on how QatarEnergy balances ongoing construction with any need to repair infrastructure damaged during the conflict.
“How quickly the expansion plants are delivered will depend on whether the company prioritizes new construction at Ras Laffan over repairs to damaged facilities,” said Scott, who also spoke on the sidelines of the conference.
He added that broader logistics constraints linked to regional tensions could also influence timelines, particularly shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global energy trade. “It will ultimately depend on how quickly the strait reopens,” Scott said.
The North Field expansion is central to QatarEnergy’s plans to boost LNG output and meet rising global demand, particularly in Asia and Europe, amid shifting energy trade flows.
(Reuters - Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Matthew Lewis)