McDermott International has been tapped to play a leading role in one of the largest liquefied natural gas projects ever planned in North America. Monkey Island LNG, the developer of a massive LNG liquefaction facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, has awarded the Houston-based contractor a master services agreement (MSA) for engineering and project planning.
According to the company’s Sept. 8 announcement, the $25 billion investment will be built in phases and is expected to position Louisiana as a major hub for U.S. LNG exports.
Greg Michaels, founder and CEO of Monkey Island LNG, said the design strategy will help reduce both costs and risks. “By leveraging LNG mega-modules, we dramatically reduce the site footprint required for world-scale LNG production, which drives down project costs and risks,” Michaels explained.
The first phase of the project will feature three LNG trains, each with a capacity of 5.2 million metric tons per annum (MTPA), combining for 15.6 MTPA. A second phase could add two more trains, boosting total capacity to 26 MTPA.
McDermott’s scope under the MSA includes front-end engineering, execution planning, and pricing for the project’s eventual engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract. That final EPC deal will align with Monkey Island LNG’s financing milestones.
Rob Shaul, senior vice president of low carbon solutions at McDermott, emphasized the company’s track record. “This award underscores the depth of expertise of McDermott in LNG and modular design,” Shaul said. “Our integrated delivery model—including self-perform construction and a global network of McDermott-owned fabrication yards—positions us to deliver a solution that maximizes value while minimizing risk.”
The project is set to move into engineering and permitting in 2026, with first LNG production expected in the early 2030s. McDermott’s Houston team will lead, supported by its engineering group in Gurugram, India.
McDermott, which generated $8.9 billion in revenue in 2024, was ranked the ninth largest builder in the U.S. by that metric. Its modular LNG expertise is expected to play a pivotal role in the Louisiana development.
The Monkey Island facility will join a wave of U.S. LNG projects gaining momentum under the Trump administration’s push for domestic energy expansion. Federal permitting processes have been accelerated since the president’s “Unleashing American Energy” executive order in January, aided by new technology following the Supreme Court’s curbing of the National Environmental Policy Act in May.
The project’s sheer size places it among the top LNG investments globally, rivaling major facilities in Texas and Qatar. Industry observers say the Monkey Island LNG venture, combined with recent approvals such as Bechtel’s $6.7 billion Train 4 at Rio Grande LNG in Brownsville, Texas, signals a renewed build-out of U.S. energy infrastructure that could reshape global LNG supply chains well into the next decade.
Originally reported by Matthew Thibault in Construction Dive.
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