Dive Brief:

• ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum announced Tuesday that they will develop a $10 billion Golden Pass liquefied natural gas export facility in Sabine Pass, Texas. This is part of ExxonMobil’s five-year plan to invest $50 billion in the expansion of its U.S. operations.
• The export project’s capacity will be approximately 16 million tons of LNG per year. The entire enterprise could have a $31 billion economic impact in the U.S. and generate almost $5 billion in direct federal, state and local tax revenues.
• It will take an estimated five years and 9,000 construction workers to build out the Golden Pass facility. Construction will begin before the end of March this year, and the two companies expect to begin export operations in 2024.

Dive Insight:

McDermott International on Tuesday said that it had been awarded — along with joint venture partners Chiyoda International Corp. and Zachry Group — a “mega contract” to build the Golden Pass project. McDermott did not release the exact contract amount but said it defines a mega contract as one in excess of $1 billion. McDermott said the facility will have three 5.2-million-tons-per-year trains and that the team will provide engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services. 

"We will apply not only our vertically-integrated capabilities but also some of the best practices and lessons learned for major construction projects in the region,” said Richard Heo, senior vice president for McDermott for North, Central and South America. We will also leverage the existing relationships we have with our partners and our customers to ensure that the Golden Pass project is a success.”

ExxonMobil is one of the companies driving energy-related construction activity in the Gulf Coast region of the U.S, and its $20 billion Growing the Gulf initiative in Texas and Louisiana is part of the company’s $50 billion investment, which includes the Golden Pass project and several others — 11 major chemical, refining, lubricant and LNG facilities in total. 

One of those projects, which ExxonMobil announced at the end of last month, is an expansion of a light crude oil refinery in Beaumont, Texas. Work on the new unit is already underway and is expected to create 1,850 construction jobs through the facility’s scheduled in-service date in 2022. The project will increase the company’s processing capacity by 65%.

ExxonMobil, with Saudi Arabian company SABIC, is also part of Gulf Coast Growth Ventures, which is building a $10 billion ethane steam cracker plant near Corpus Christi, Texas, although the Houston Chronicle reported in December that the cost of the project is closer to $8 billion. The company has identified Wood, based in the United Kingdom, as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project.