MDR McDermott International Inc

McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) (�McDermott�), announced today that a subsidiary of J. Ray McDermott, S.A. (�J. Ray�) has received a letter of award for the engineering, procurement and construction of 6,500 metric tons of topside modules for the Peregrino floating, production, storage and offloading (�FPSO�) vessel from A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S. Projects of this nature are typically valued in excess of $250 million. �This project underscores J. Ray�s ability to draw from its global resources to offer a fast track and cost effective solution when our customers need one most,� said Bob Deason, Chief Executive Officer of J. Ray. �Our engineering and procurement resources in Houston combined with our operations in Indonesia are able to leverage the global footprint of J. Ray to optimize project execution and delivery.� Engineering and procurement activities have commenced while the fabrication scope is expected to begin in the third quarter 2008. Construction of the topside modules will commence in the third quarter 2008 at J. Ray�s Batam Island facility in Indonesia, where up to 1,200 Indonesian craftsmen are expected to be employed on this project. The Peregrino FPSO project is expected to be complete by the fourth quarter 2009. The FPSO will ultimately be operated in the Peregrino field, located in the Campos Basin approximately 85 kilometers offshore Brazil. Under the development plan, the field is to be designed with the FPSO and two drilling platforms. McDermott is an engineering and construction company, with specialty manufacturing and service capabilities, focused on energy infrastructure. McDermott�s customers are predominantly utilities and other power generators, major and national oil companies, and the United States Government. With its global operations, McDermott operates in over 20 countries with more than 20,000 employees, and can be found on the internet at www.mcdermott.com. In accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, McDermott International, Inc., cautions that statements in this press release which are forward-looking and which provide other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties that may impact actual results. The forward-looking statements in this press release include statements concerning the typical value of projects of this nature and the scope, execution and timing of the A.P. Moller - Maersk Peregrino project. Although McDermott's management believes that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, McDermott can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Those statements are made by using various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including, but not limited to, the risk that the parties to the Letter of Award may not be able to finalize a definitive contract on the project and that McDermott may experience delays or other difficulties executing such contract. If one or more of these risks materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. For a more complete discussion of these and other risk factors, please see McDermott's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007.