McDermott has emerged as the successful bidder for a turnkey deal to develop the Gendalo-Gehem gas fields in East Kalimantan deep waters offshore Indonesia.

The US contractor said the award of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract is still subject to various conditions including government and regulatory approvals, as well as a final investment decision.

First gas for the project, which lies on the edge of the continental shelf, is due in the second half of 2017, and will access up to 4 Tcf of gas.

Development of the two liquids-rich gas fields in the Makassar Strait – which is planned using a Floating Production and Offloading vessel in 1,829 m (5,944 ft) water depth – has had a chequered history after operator Chevron and partner Eni cancelled a previous contract bidding round.

Chevron, which has 80% in the project, with partner Eni holding 20%, declared a failed bid process last year, after three consortia submitted tenders for surface and subsea facilities for the fields. McDermott’s original tender was the lowest but was still reportedly 20% above Chevron/Eni’s estimates, leading to the new bid round being launched later last year.