Wood Group wins deal for Shell's Prelude project

Energy services contractor Wood Group has landed a three-year deal for Shell's giant natural gas project in Australia.

Shell's Prelude will be the largest offshore facility ever built

Under the contract, the Aberdeen-based firm’s Kenny arm will provide specialist consultancy services for flexible riser integrity management on Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project – the first of its kind in the world.

Once operational, the 1,600-foot long Prelude facility – to be located in the Browse Basin off Western Australia – will produce at least 3.6 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year.

Wood Group Kenny chief executive Bob MacDonald said: “The flexible risers are a safety critical component of the subsea system. We look forward to working with Shell and applying our specialist expertise to the project, which has specific challenges given the cyclonic conditions; making integrity even more pertinent.”

He added: “Wood Group Kenny has a market leading position in Australia for providing subsea operations and integrity support, including extensive experience in FLNG. We will service this contract using entirely local expertise from our Perth office.”

The Prelude deal is the second that Wood Group has won with Shell in the past six months. In August, its PSN division started a “multi-million” dollar five-year contract to provide engineering, construction, maintenance and industrial services to Shell’s four onshore oil fields in Gabon.