McDermott and Shell in Decarbonization Deal

McDermott has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Shell Eastern Petroleum Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, to collaborate on decarbonizing construction.

The agreement enables McDermott and Shell to explore opportunities for reducing, and eliminating, emissions from construction through pathways such as low carbon fuels, renewable power, digital solutions and decarbonizing marine construction vessels, McDermott noted in a statement posted on its website. The company highlighted that its fabrication yards in Indonesia, China, the Middle East and Mexico, as well as marine construction vessels, will be “key” to identifying opportunities to lower emissions and gain operational efficiencies.

“Companies such as McDermott and Shell - who have targets to progress towards net-zero emissions by 2050, in step with society - are well positioned to approach the challenges of lowering emissions together,” Samik Mukherjee, McDermott’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in a company statement.

“A pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from construction operations will make significant strides toward net zero engineering, procurement and construction projects in the future,” Mukherjee added in the statement.

Mahesh Swaminathan, McDermott’s senior vice president of Asia Pacific, said, “McDermott's integrated project delivery enables us to look holistically across our operations for opportunities to reduce emissions”.

“We are looking forward to working with Shell to explore what's possible and see how our combined expertise delivers more sustainable operations,” Swaminathan went on to say.

In August, McDermott announced that it would accelerate its contributions to a low-carbon economy through its sustainability targets, which include the following:

• A 50 percent reduction in scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030.
• A 35 percent reduction in scope 3 GHG emissions for ten key supply chain categories by 2030.
• Zero office waste-to-landfill by 2025.
• A 50 percent reduction in waste generation by 2030.

Back in February, Shell set out a strategy to accelerate its transformation into a provider of net-zero emissions energy products and services. In a company statement at the time, Shell said a disciplined cash allocation framework and rigorous approach to driving down carbon emissions will deliver value for shareholders, customers and wider society.

Last month, McDermott revealed that a Shell-Led consortium, including McDermott's CB&I Storage Solutions, had been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale liquid hydrogen storage.

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