CB&I is the world’s leading designer and builder of storage facilities, tanks, and terminals — a position it has held through more than 135 years of continuous operation in energy infrastructure construction. Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, and owned by a consortium of financial investors led by Mason Capital Management, CB&I operates as an independent company following its separation from McDermott International during that company’s 2020 bankruptcy restructuring. In early 2026, CB&I expanded significantly with the acquisition of Petrofac Asset Solutions, adding approximately 3,000 employees and an Aberdeen-based operations, maintenance, and decommissioning services business to its portfolio.
CB&I Company Overview
Founded in 1889 as the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, CB&I built its first water tank in Iroquois, Illinois, and grew through the 20th century into the defining name in large-diameter storage tank engineering and construction. The company has designed and built storage tanks and terminals for every major oil company, gas producer, LNG operator, and petrochemical manufacturer in the world across more than 100 countries.
CB&I was acquired by McDermott International in 2018 in a $6 billion transaction intended to create an integrated offshore and onshore EPC contractor. When McDermott filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2020, CB&I’s storage and terminals business was separated and re-emerged as an independent company under new private equity ownership. This separation restored CB&I to its core identity — a focused, technically specialised contractor for tank, terminal, and process facility construction — without the complexity of McDermott’s offshore and subsea business lines. The current article’s reference to CB&I as “a McDermott company” is no longer accurate; the two are separate entities.
Storage Solutions: The Core Business
CB&I Storage Solutions, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, is the company’s foundation business — designing, fabricating, and constructing storage tanks and terminals for oil, gas, LNG, petrochemicals, and industrial liquids. CB&I has built more above ground storage tanks than any other contractor in the world, covering the full range from small shop-fabricated tanks through to the largest full-containment LNG tanks in existence.
Key capabilities within Storage Solutions include full-containment LNG tanks — CB&I is the world’s most experienced builder of these complex cryogenic structures — floating roof tanks for crude oil and refined products, low-temperature and cryogenic vessels for LNG, LPG, and liquid ammonia storage, and pressure vessels and reactors for refining and petrochemical applications. Its fabrication facilities in the US, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific allow it to prefabricate major components in controlled environments before field erection, improving quality control and reducing on-site construction time.
Major Storage Solutions projects include full-containment LNG tank construction at Golden Pass LNG in Texas (ExxonMobil/QatarEnergy), Freeport LNG, Cameron LNG in Louisiana, and LNG Canada in British Columbia — collectively representing a significant share of North America’s LNG export infrastructure. The tank terminal infrastructure that CB&I constructs is central to the sector covered across our global tank terminals hub.
CB&I Asset Solutions: The Petrofac Acquisition
In December 2025, CB&I announced an agreement to acquire Petrofac Asset Solutions — the operations, maintenance, and decommissioning services division of Petrofac, which had entered administration in October 2025. The creditor CVA required for the transaction was approved by 99% of creditors on 30 January 2026 and upheld by the Edinburgh Court on 12 March 2026 following an HMRC challenge. The transaction is expected to complete imminently.
The acquisition creates a second distinct CB&I business unit: CB&I Asset Solutions, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. Asset Solutions provides operations, maintenance, inspection, and decommissioning services for onshore and offshore energy assets — a reimbursable contracting model that delivers more predictable cash flow than the fixed-price lump-sum work that characterises Storage Solutions’ project business. Approximately 3,000 former Petrofac employees are transferring to CB&I as part of the transaction. The full background on Petrofac’s administration and the context of this deal is covered in our Petrofac administration profile.
The strategic logic is clear: CB&I Storage Solutions wins and builds large capital projects on fixed-price terms; CB&I Asset Solutions earns recurring reimbursable revenue from maintaining and operating the assets that Storage Solutions and others have built. The combination creates a more complete lifecycle offering and reduces CB&I’s earnings cyclicality.
LNG & Cryogenic Engineering
CB&I’s most technically differentiated capability is its full-containment LNG tank engineering and construction expertise. A full-containment tank consists of an inner stainless steel tank holding the LNG at -162°C, surrounded by a pre-stressed concrete outer tank and a thermally insulating perlite fill — a structure requiring specialist design, materials, and construction sequencing that very few contractors globally can execute.
CB&I has built more full-containment LNG tanks than any other contractor in the world. This track record is a direct competitive moat — LNG terminal operators require demonstrated experience and reference projects before awarding new tank construction contracts. As North American and Middle Eastern LNG export capacity continues to expand in 2026, CB&I’s position as the world’s leading LNG tank builder gives it preferred access to the most technically demanding and commercially significant storage construction work in the global energy sector. The scale of LNG storage infrastructure investment underway is examined in our analysis of the 2026 LNG storage infrastructure surge.
North American Tank & Terminal Market
CB&I competes in the North American tank and terminal construction market alongside Matrix Service Company, Tarsco (TF Warren), Kiewit, and Caldwell Tanks — all of which are profiled on this site. For large-diameter LNG and cryogenic tank work, CB&I has no direct equivalent competitor in the North American market given its scale and reference project base.
In the broader tank construction market, CB&I’s competitive position rests on three factors: engineering capability for complex tank types, fabrication capacity for major components, and a safety record that allows it to work on the most sensitive and high-value sites. Its presence at NISTM — the leading aboveground storage tank conference series — as a key sponsor reflects its standing within the tank storage professional community. CB&I’s position within the North American EPC tank construction landscape is detailed in our guide to the top 10 tank and terminal EPC companies in North America.
CB&I Company Snapshot
| Founded | 1889 (Chicago, Illinois) |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | The Woodlands, Texas, USA |
| Ownership | Private — led by Mason Capital Management (since 2020 McDermott separation) |
| CEO | Mark Butts |
| Business Units (2026) | CB&I Storage Solutions (The Woodlands, TX); CB&I Asset Solutions (Aberdeen, Scotland) |
| Core Specialisation | Storage tank design, fabrication & construction; LNG full-containment tanks; terminal EPC |
| Asset Solutions Employees | ~3,000 (transferred from Petrofac, Q1 2026) |
| Key Markets | LNG, crude oil, refined products, petrochemicals, cryogenics, ammonia |
| Notable Projects | Golden Pass LNG, Freeport LNG, Cameron LNG, LNG Canada, Ras Tanura |
| Website | cbi.com |
What does CB&I do?
CB&I is the world’s leading designer and builder of storage tanks, terminals, and related energy infrastructure. Its core Storage Solutions business constructs aboveground storage tanks for oil, gas, LNG, petrochemicals, and cryogenic products globally. Following the 2026 acquisition of Petrofac Asset Solutions, CB&I also operates an integrated services business providing operations, maintenance, and decommissioning for onshore and offshore energy assets.
Is CB&I still part of McDermott?
No. CB&I separated from McDermott International in 2020 during McDermott’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. CB&I re-emerged as an independent company owned by a consortium of financial investors led by Mason Capital Management. McDermott International and CB&I are now separate and unrelated companies.
What is CB&I’s Petrofac Asset Solutions acquisition?
In December 2025, CB&I agreed to acquire Petrofac’s Asset Solutions division — approximately 3,000 employees providing operations, maintenance, and decommissioning services for onshore and offshore energy assets globally. The CVA required for the transaction was approved by 99% of creditors in January 2026 and upheld by the Edinburgh Court on 12 March 2026. The acquisition creates CB&I Asset Solutions as a second business unit based in Aberdeen, Scotland.
What is CB&I’s specialisation in LNG tank construction?
CB&I has built more full-containment LNG tanks than any other contractor in the world. Full-containment tanks — which hold LNG at -162°C in an inner stainless steel tank surrounded by a pre-stressed concrete outer structure — require specialist engineering and construction expertise that very few contractors possess. CB&I’s track record includes major North American LNG export terminals including Golden Pass, Freeport, Cameron, and LNG Canada.
Who owns CB&I?
CB&I is privately owned by a consortium of financial investors led by Mason Capital Management, following its separation from McDermott International during McDermott’s 2020 bankruptcy restructuring. The company is led by President and CEO Mark Butts and operates from its headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas.