J. Ray to supply two unmanned wellhead platforms and two intra-field pipelines for Al Khaleej Gas Development Phase 2 Offshore Expansion Project

Dubai, UAE - Jul 18, 2006 (PRN): J. Ray McDermott Eastern Hemisphere Ltd. (J. Ray), a subsidiary of J. Ray McDermott, S.A., was awarded a contract by ExxonMobil Middle East Gas Marketing Ltd. to provide engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) services for two wellhead platforms and pipelines, as part of the Al Khaleej Gas (AKG) Development Phase 2 Offshore Expansion Project. Contracts of this type are typically valued at over US$300 million.

"With the award of the AKG Phase 2 project, our Middle East backlog continues to grow," said Hafez Aghili, senior vice president and general manager, Middle East and India.

"With increasing opportunities in Qatar's oil and gas market, future prospects are bright. We expect expansion in our regional operations this year, and are improving our production capacity to help meet industry demand."

The overall project requires J. Ray to provide EPCI services for two remote unmanned wellhead platforms, WH10 and WH11. The jackets were awarded to J. Ray in 2006 as part of the Al Khaleej Gas Development Phase 1 Offshore Expansion Project. Under the new AKG Phase 2 project, J. Ray will also perform EPCI of two intra-field pipelines that will connect the platforms with two 38" wet-gas export trunk-lines.

WH10 and WH11 will be connected to the existing RasGas Alpha Complex, by two separate composite power and fiber optic subsea communications cables.

Engineering will be carried out at J. Ray's engineering offices in Jebel Ali. Construction will begin by May 2007 at J. Ray's Jebel Ali yard, with installation of WH10 and WH11 scheduled for completion during 2009.

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About McDermott
McDermott is a leading worldwide energy services company. McDermott's subsidiaries provide engineering, fabrication, installation, procurement, research, manufacturing, environmental systems, project management and facilities management services to a variety of customers in the energy and power industry, including the U.S. Department of Energy. Its subsidiary, J. Ray McDermott, S.A. is a leading provider of solutions for the offshore field development worldwide.

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 McDermott's actual results of operations. The forward-looking statements in this press release include statements concerning the value and project execution of the Al Khaleej Gas Development Phase 2 Offshore Expansion Project as well as comments concerning backlog growth, production capacity, prospects for the future and expected industry demand. 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! . 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 risk factors, please see McDermott's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

For more information, contact:
Louise Denly, PR Manager
J. Ray McDermott Middle East, Inc.
P.O. Box 16961
Dubai,
United Arab Emirates
Tel: +971 4 804 3293
Fax: +971 4 8834 330
Email: ldenly@mcdermott.com
Website: http://www.jraymcdermott.com

© Press Release 2006