McDermott Sets Production Deck No. 1 For Freeport McMoRan Sulfur Project

McDermott Marine Construction's Derrick Barge 50 has installed the Production Platform No.

1 deck for Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners Main Pass Block 299 Sulfur Project in the Gulf of Mexico, completing the western onethird of the 15-platform offshore sulfur mining complex. The complex is scheduled to be operational in mid-1992.

The 3,200-ton deck will be used in the production of the estimated 67 million long tons of sulfur being developed in Main Pass Block 299 by Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners.

This is the largest existing Frasch sulfur reserve in North America. McDermott's Derrick Barge 50, which set the deck, is the most technologically advanced derrick barge in the Gulf of Mexico. It can lift loads up to 4,400 short tons and, with its responsive ballasting system, can rotate loads up to 4,180 tons. Its four-thruster, variablepitch dynamic positioning system provides propulsion speeds of 11 knots, allowing it to reach worksites, set up, and perform work quickly.

For the Main Pass 299 Project, McDermott is also building three platforms for the recovery of oil and natural gas reserves, estimated to be between 35 million and 50 million barrels of oil and approximately 8 billion cubic feet of gas. These structures are expected to be completed and oil and gas operations scheduled to begin later this year.

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