Project Status Update

Projects obviously move through different stages, which means contracting work can ebb and flow accordingly.

With AusGroup’s (AGC) work now winding down on Woodside’s Pluto Project, they will soon ramp up their recruitment drive for the 300 trades required for modular assembly work for BHP Billiton’s Yandi minesite. Specifically, AGC will require riggers and pipe fitters starting in June/July.

In January this year, AGC also announced that they had been awarded a multi-disciplinary integrated services contract by Apache Energy Limited. The contract consists of general and campaign services, and minor capital works at Apache’s Varanus Island facilities and offshore assets on the North West Shelf, off the coast of Western Australia.

The new contract commenced in mid January 2010 for an initial term of three years with 2 one-year options. The work involves all mechanical disciplines, sheet-metal fabrication, insulation, scaffolding, rigging and electrical and instrumentation. AGC will also provide fabrication support from its fabrication facility in Kwinana.

Similarly, the offshore construction component for Pluto has also been completed. Acergy’s vessel, Toisa Proteus has been returned to Singapore for disassembly this week and all manning through Brunel Technical Services will shortly be demobilised. Brunel will next seek crews for the construction of the Devil’s Creek project around September. This scope of work includes 91km of pipelay off the North West shelf, subsea tie ins and both a jacket and topside installation. The job is predicted to take about three months. The vessels used on this project are Leighton’s ‘Stealth’ barge for shallow water pipe lay, followed by the Sapura 3000 vessel for the deep sea pipe lay, jacket and topside installation.

Commencing in October 2011 and then running for about 12-15 months, Brunel Technical Services will then man the Lorelay for the Gorgon pipelay installation for Allseas and Chevron.

CBI will also seek to ramp up their intake of trades in October ready for the Gorgon Project. CBI was awarded the contract for the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of two 180,000 cubic metre full containment LNG tanks, four condensate tanks, and the associated piping, electrical, instrumentation and civil works for Gorgon.