McDermott, a provider of engineering and construction services to the energy industry, has signed a master services agreement (MSA) for the planned Monkey Island LNG project in Louisiana, US.

McDermott will provide front-end engineering and planning services for the natural gas liquefaction facility. The MSA encompasses engineering, execution planning and pricing for the facility's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) phase.

The first phase of Monkey Island LNG will include three liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains, each with a capacity of 5.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), totalling 15.6mtpa.

An expansion with two additional LNG trains would increase the combined capacity to 26mtpa.

The contract award follows the recent decision by Monkey Island LNG to adopt the ConocoPhillips Optimized Cascade Process.

Monkey Island LNG founder and CEO Greg Michaels said: "By leveraging LNG mega-modules, we dramatically reduce the site footprint required for world-scale LNG production, which drives down project costs and risks.

"The project represents a $25bn investment across two phases, positioning it among the largest private energy infrastructure developments in North America and designed to maximise LNG production with fewer acres."

Engineering and permitting are due to commence next year, with first LNG production targeted for the early 2030s.

The project will be spearheaded by McDermott's team in Houston, Texas, with backing from its engineering team in Gurugram, India.