Eni Awards McDermott Offshore Cronos Contract, Targeting Output of 500 Million Cubic Feet per Day
Key Facts
McDermott has won a contract from Eni Cyprus to carry out subsea work on the Cronos field development project, the company said on September 8, 2026. The scope includes project management, engineering, procurement and installation support, according to a McDermott statement. The statement did not disclose the contract value, so no confirmed value for the contracts or timing for signing additional contracts is available in the disclosed information. The award follows Eni and TotalEnergies’ final investment decision on the field’s development on July 28, 2026. The project aims to turn the gas discovery in Cypriot waters into exportable supplies via existing infrastructure in Egypt, with production expected to start in 2028.
Cronos is located in offshore Block 6, where Eni and TotalEnergies each hold a 50% stake, with Eni operating the area. TotalEnergies said the field was discovered in 2022 and successfully appraised in 2024, before the final investment decision in July 2026. The field contains more than 3 trillion cubic feet of gas in place, according to Eni’s estimate. The company expects production to reach a plateau of 500 million standard cubic feet per day at peak. These figures show the size of the resource and targeted production capacity, while available information does not specify when that level will be reached after production starts.
The plan calls for four subsea wells to develop the field, located in deep water about 185 kilometers southwest of Cyprus’s coast, according to TotalEnergies. From there, an offshore pipeline will carry the gas to existing facilities at Egypt’s Zohr field for processing. After processing, the gas will be transported to the Damietta facility for liquefaction and then exported to Europe. Eni said the project’s contractual agreements set out the terms for using existing Egyptian infrastructure, including Zohr facilities and the Damietta liquefied natural gas terminal. This route links Cypriot production to processing and liquefaction facilities already in place, instead of building an entirely new chain of facilities.
The Associated Press estimated the cost of transporting the gas to Egypt for processing at about $2 billion, or 1.73 billion euros, and said the option was the most economically viable because of the proximity of existing Egyptian infrastructure. The agency estimated that this cost was half the estimate for developing other gas fields in Cypriot waters. The estimate relates to transporting Cronos gas to Egypt for processing and does not represent the value of McDermott’s contract, which was not disclosed. On February 17, 2025, Egypt, Cyprus, Eni and TotalEnergies signed a government agreement to develop Block 6 resources and use existing Zohr and Damietta facilities to transport, process and liquefy the gas. TotalEnergies’ chief executive said relying on existing processing capacity aligns with the company’s strategy of prioritizing low-cost, low-emissions projects.
Cyprus’s energy minister told the Associated Press that work on the pipeline to Zohr facilities, 105 kilometers from Cronos, is scheduled to begin later in 2026 and could take up to 18 months to complete. According to the minister, the agreement allows the entire estimated volume of more than 3 trillion cubic feet of gas to be directed to Europe, with a clause permitting about one-fifth to be used to meet some of Egypt’s domestic energy needs. The minister said the project’s importance to Cyprus was tied to starting gas production and turning the country into a producer, rather than to the expected financial return, saying: "Our income as a country will not be large; the importance is not in the money, but in starting production and getting the first gas." Production is still targeted to begin in 2028, according to TotalEnergies. The announced schedule therefore sets out pipeline work in 2026, followed by the field’s production start two years later.