Oilfield construction outfit McDermott International has confirmed its subsidiary, J. Ray McDermott has secured a four-year Saudi Aramco order to engineer, procure for, construct and install the Manifa field facilities in the Arabian Gulf.

J. Ray will begin engineering in May from its regional office in Jebel Ali, the United Arab Emirates and from Chennai, India.

Jebel will build the Manifa platforms weighing a combined 16,700 tonnes. Remote communication packages will also need to be procured and installed on 26 platforms in a major modifications job.

No contract dollar-amount was made available.

“The plan involves capacity expansion and deployment of additional equipment, resulting in an increase in both efficiency and workable man-hours,” a statement said.

The project is expected to be competed by 2011 in a series of lifts and instalments by J. Ray vessels.