Our History

McDermott founded in Eastland, Texas by Ralph Thomas McDermott, known as "Mr. Mac." He named the company after his father, John Raymond McDermott.

Designed to reduce product loss and fire hazards, McDermott introduces the world’s first floating roof tank for the oil industry. Floating roof tanks have since become the industry standard for safe and economical storage of petroleum products.

The company builds its first fractionating towers for the petroleum industry for Standard Oil of Louisiana at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. Today the company offers a comprehensive slate of technology and EPC services for refiners worldwide.

Introduced the first use of floating drilling equipment in low-lying marshlands of Texas and Louisiana.

As its contribution to the World War II supply effort, McDermott builds floating dry docks and landing ship tanks (LSTs) for the US Navy from 1942-1945 at shipyards in Louisiana, California, Illinois and New York.

Designed and installed the first fixed platform made of steel out-of-sight-of-land, in 20 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico for Superior Oil. Established a contracting division, which was the major operating segment during the early years.

Company commissioned construction of the first vessel designed specifically for offshore work, Derrick Barge 4.

McDermott installed the first all-concrete platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

Company installed the first large-diameter, concrete-coated pipeline offshore Gulf of Mexico.

McDermott erects the world's largest Hortonsphere vessel (225 feet diameter) in West Milton, New York, U.S., for the Atomic Energy Commission. This is the first of many nuclear containment vessel contracts for the company.

McDermott introduces its newest and most powerful offshore vessel, Derrick Barge 7, with a lifting capacity of 250 tons.

Company constructed the first offshore platform for 100 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico.

Installed a jacket offshore by launching it from a barge for the first time in the Gulf of Mexico.

McDermott builds its first double-wall insulated tank for the storage of liquid methane, now more commonly known as liquefied natural gas (LNG), at Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S. The tank marked the first of many innovations introduced by McDermott in the LNG industry. The first transoceanic shipment of LNG was dispatched from Lake Charles the following year, and McDermott also built the storage tank at the receiving terminal in the U.K.

J Ray McDermott & Co. Inc. went public in 1954, and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1958.

Constructed and installed the first platform to operate in more than 200 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico for Gulf Oil in South Timbalier Block 132.

Designed, constructed and installed the Middle East’s first offshore platform: Arabian Oil Company’s Flow Station and Complex.

Performed jacket installation using the “stacking” method for the first time, a precursor to later multi-piece jackets.

McDermott's engineering and construction personnel develop the technology to raise the roof of a storage tank from the floor to the top of the tank on a cushion of air. The earliest recorded air raise was in Chicago, Illinois., U.S., on Feb. 6, 1962. The system has subsequently been used on thousands of tanks around the world, including roofs in excess of 300 feet in diameter and weighing more than 2 million pounds.

Centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis is the tallest man-made monument in the US and the world’s tallest arch. PDM (now part of McDermott) served as the stainless steel fabricator and erector for the monument.

Constructed and installed Shell’s PS1 Petroleum Production Complex offshore Qatar in a record-setting 285 feet of water.

Introduced a new launch method for offshore jacket installation due to a trend of jackets becoming too heavy for crane lift. Instead, the jacket was fabricated and transported on its side and launched by slipping it off the barge, ballasting it until it turned upright and then guiding it into place.

McDermott installed an offshore riser using the J-Lay method and a pipe tensioning device for the first time.

McDermott constructed and installed the first four-pile jacket in 306 feet of water for the Arabian Gulf’s Ras Al Khaimah project, setting a record not broken until 1983.

Installed the first Middle East subsea completion wellhead and production facility complex, including laying 70 miles of 18-inch pipe for Iranian Marine International Oil Company in the Rostam field of the Arabian Gulf.

McDermott designs and builds the first US marine LNG storage and distribution terminal on the Mystic River at Everett, Mass., for Distrigas Corporation.

McDermott completed the installation of three Khazzan oil storage tanks for Dubai Petroleum Company in the Arabian Gulf. Khazzan Dubai No. 1, a 500,000-barrel underwater oil storage tank submerged in the Arabian Gulf 60 miles from Dubai, U.A.E. in 1969, was named one of the outstanding engineering achievements of the year by The National Society of Professional Engineers, along with the first flight of the Boeing 747 and the Apollo moon landing.

Engineered, procured, constructed, installed and commissioned Ju’Aymah Terminal (Saudi Arabia), the world’s largest oil export terminal − comprising 46 miles of large pipelines, 12 pile jackets and three Single Buoy Mooring Systems.

McDermott completes construction of the tunnel liners, bifurcations and penstocks for the Tarbela Dam in West Pakistan. The four tunnel liners were up to 43.5 feet in diameter and required 47,000 tons of steel. The company’s involvement in the hydroelectric industry dates from 1906 and continues today.

Constructed and installed the first subsea production system for Exxon in the Gulf of Mexico.

Constructed and installed India’s first offshore platforms, related pipelines and Single Buoy Mooring in the Bombay High field.

Constructed and installed a record-setting 850-foot tall jacket for Exxon’s Hondo field development offshore Santa Barbara, California.

McDermott builds the two largest oil tanks in the US, each with a capacity of 800,000 barrels, and the world's largest petroleum storage tank, at 1.5 million barrels and 410 feet in diameter, in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

Fabricated and installed the 46,000-ton platform for Shell’s Cognac field development in the Gulf of Mexico, with several distinctions:
 •  First structure installed in more than 1,000 feet of water
 •  First deepwater structure built in three pieces and remains the only three-piece structure today
 •  First use of underwater pile driver
 •  Achievement award from American Society of Civil Engineers

The company is awarded a contract by Phillips Petroleum for the largest-ever steel offshore platform support structure for the North Sea, built in Hunterston, Scotland. It was the world’s first steel platform combining flotation, ballasting and oil storage, with a storage capacity of 600,000 barrels. It operated on the Maureen field in the North Sea.

Completed construction of Intermac 650, the world’s second-largest launch barge.

Installed a 28-inch pipeline across the Norwegian Trench in a record-setting 1,000 feet of water.

McDermott designs and builds the largest steel water reservoir in the world, with a capacity of 34 million gallons, in Austin, Texas, US.

The company constructs its first anaerobic Egg-Shaped Digester (ESD™) for the wastewater treatment industry in St. Charles, Illinois, U.S. McDermott is the leading supplier of ESD systems in the Western Hemisphere.

Installed the deepest pipeline in 1,350 feet of water between Shell’s Bullwinkle and Boxer platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Constructed and installed topsides for Shell’s Auger Tension Leg Platform (TLP), in the Gulf of Mexico, achieving several records:
 •  Largest single-piece structure (26,000 tons) in the Gulf of Mexico
 •  Deepest offshore field, in 2,860 feet of water
 •  First mini TLP installation using segmented tendons
 •  First use of J-Lay pipeline technology
 •  Received Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award from the American Society of Civil Engineers as the “World’s Tallest Man-made Structure”

The Batam Island, Indonesia, fabrication yard constructed the 99-module and 19,290-ton Singapore Aromatics/Foster Wheeler aromatic plant, the region’s first such facility.

McDermott fabricated the largest jacket ever built in the Middle East, the N’Kossa NKF 1, at the Jebel Ali yard.

EPCI of topsides for the world’s first production Spar platform at Oryx’s Neptune field at 1,330 feet in the Gulf of Mexico.

EPCI of four subsea pipelines and manifolds for Shell’s Conger field development, including the first 15,000 psi pipeline in 1,500 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico and first use of “snaking,” which eliminated the use of piles.

EPCI of the hull and topsides for the world’s deepest dry-tree Spar production platform in 5,610 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico for Dominion’s Devils Tower.

Constructed and integrated 27,600 tons of topsides for the world’s first LPG Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel and most complex FPSO, comprising 13 process modules, three central pipe racks, warehouse and control room buildings, and 120-person living quarters, for the Belanak field offshore Indonesia.

Installed the longest pipeline − 223 miles 30-inch and 28-inch gas pipeline − for Azerbaijan International Operating Company’s ACG development, the largest oil field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian basin.

McDermott completed construction of the PERU LNG natural gas liquefaction plant in Pampa Melchorita, Peru. It is the first baseload LNG export facility in South America and the largest industrial project ever undertaken in Peru.

Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan, a joint venture company between McDermott and China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, opened 111-acre fabrication facility based in Qingdao, China catering to the FPSO/FLNG and offshore/onshore module construction market.

Awarded subsea umbilical, riser and flowline project for the Ichthys Gas-condensate field development by INPEX offshore Australia; the largest subsea contract awarded to McDermott to date.

Installation of a tension leg wellhead platform in the Papa Terra field offshore Brazil; the first use of dry-tree floating technology offshore Brazil and the first Tension Leg Platform installation offshore South America.

Lease agreement signed with the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi State Port Authority for the exclusive right to operate a spoolbase and marine operations base in the Port of Gulfport.

First to install rigid reel-lay pipe-in-pipe in Asia-Pacific for the Siakap North-Petai development project offshore Malaysia.

Authorization received from the Central Administration of Customs in Mexico to operate the Altamira fabrication facility near Tampico, Mexico, as a free trade zone.

io oil & gas consulting, a new independent venture to transform front-end offshore field development, is launched with GE Oil & Gas.

New build DLV 2000 joins McDermott fleet, providing a combination of pipelay and heavy lift capabilities.

McDermott acquires the Amazon, a deepwater pipelay and construction vessel.

McDermott is the first EPCI company to implement an advanced data solution to improve schedule certainty for its customers, Gemini XD.

McDermott combines with CB&I, creating a premier, fully integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions for the energy industry.

McDermott awarded an EPC contract for the largest hydrogen cryogenic sphere ever built for NASA.

McDermott awarded an EPCI mega-project by Saudi Aramco for Marjan Packages 1 and 4.

McDermott successfully completes the final offshore campaign for the Ichthys LNG project.

McDermott awarded an EPC contract for Woodfibre LNG, the cleanest liquified natural gas export facility in the world.

McDermott awarded its largest ever renewable energy project by TenneT.

McDermott delivers gas field for largest subsea project in Asia Pacific.

McDermott marks its 100-year anniversary with a global celebration.

McDermott is awarded two contracts from NOC to deliver EPCIC for packages 11 and 13 of the Ruya Development Project, as part of the expansion of Qatar's largest oil field.

McDermott is awarded an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) agreement from Abraxas Power Corporation, a project representing Canada's first commercial green hydrogen and ammonia production facility.