OneSubsea wins Browse work

Energy giant Woodside Petroleum has awarded a front-end engineering and design contract to a consortium comprising two NYSE-listed companies, for its proposed Browse FLNG project.

The Schlumberger and Cameron joint venture company OneSubsea will work with Woodside to define and determine the subsea production system design and equipment requirements for the Browse developments.

Woodside announced last week that the project joint venture had agreed to enter the FEED phase.

Operating out of its Perth office, OneSubsea’s contract will involve up to 20 locally employed people over the next 12 to 18 months, while Woodside prepares for a final investment decision in the second half of next year.

Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman said the contract award was the first of a number anticipated to be awarded in the future to Australia-based engineering firms, manufacturers and suppliers associated with the subsea elements of the Browse project.

“Our local content commitment is focused on working with Australian-based suppliers with world-class capabilities to partner with us on our operations and developments,” he said.

OneSubsea opened a life-of-field facility in Kewdale in 2013, and was built to support Woodside and other operations in the region.

Woodside said the facility would be a key in the development of Browse.

The contract is OneSubsea’s first award under a frame agreement with Woodside, signed in January last year.

Cameron chief executive Jack Moore said through further collaboration with Woodside on the FEED contract, OneSubsea would be able to apply a wide breadth of expertise to provide the optimal range-of-field development options that aligned with the project’s goals.

It follows news yesterday that France’s Technip and South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries had been signed up as the lead engineering and construction contractors for Browse.

Woodside shares were 0.2 per cent higher to $34.19 each at 9:50am.