Under the full scope of the project, the consortium will provide engineering, procurement, construction, installation (EPCI) and hook-up and commissioning services for a central production platform, living quarters, flare tower, and bridges for the Block B gas development project off the southwest coast of Vietnam.

"This award combines our 50 years of experience executing complex EPCI projects in the region with PTSC's technical strengths," said Mahesh Swaminathan, senior vice president of Subsea and Floating Facilities at McDermott. "Together, we initiate this important groundwork as we finalize the full project scope and ultimately deliver another world-class project for Vietnam."

The full project contract is expected to be executed between the parties early next year, with an award value of more than $1 billion.

Situated in the Malay-Tho Chu basin, Block B is one of Vietnam’s most significant natural gas exploitation sites. Block B will provide power plants with about 5.06 billion cubic metres of gas per year. The entire gas source of Block B will be transported by pipeline to O Mon district (Can Tho city) to supply gas to the O Mon I, O Mon II, O Mon III and O Mon IV thermal power plants, with a total capacity of about 3,810MW.

As an important national project, it is expected to contribute an estimated $30 billion to the state coffers and around $11 billion to partners, which will also serve to reinforce national defence and security, and validate Vietnam's sovereignty over its seas and islands.