McDermott picks up ‘largest’ decom job in its history

U.S.-headquartered offshore engineering and construction player McDermott has lined up its next multimillion-dollar decommissioning assignment off the coast of Australia, which is said to represent the firm’s largest secured project of this kind.

While disclosing its new engineering, procurement, removal, and disposal (EPRD) deal with Santos for the decommissioning of the Harriet Alpha platform and associated infrastructure offshore Western Australia, McDermott highlighted that the contract award follows the execution of the Campbell decommissioning project for the Australian energy giant.

After revealing an engineering, procurement, removal, and disposal contract, worth between $1 million and $50 million, in November 2023, the U.S. company confirmed the completion of the Campbell decommissioning work in September 2024, highlighting the importance of its lifting cradle in finishing the assignment.

The new deal with Santos for the Harriet Alpha platform, which McDermott describes as a large contract valued between $50 million and $250 million, is part of the Harriet joint venture (HJV) assets in the Carnarvon Basin, with the operational area approximately 102 km west of Dampier and 105 km northeast of Onslow, Western Australia.

The production from the HJV fields, which have reached the end of their economically viable production life, started in 1986. According to Santos’ plan, the decommissioning execution activities are due to begin in Q1 2025. The HJV facilities consist of 15 platforms/structures, associated wells, and approximately 211 km of pipelines with related stability structures.

The offshore infrastructure is tied back via pipelines to onshore processing and export facilities on Varanus Island, collectively known as the Varanus Island (VI) hub operations. The Harriet Alpha platform, seen as one of the largest facilities slated for decommissioning, which was brought online in 1986, ceased production in 2013.

Liberty Industrial, which Santos hired to do a deconstruction and disposal study of the platform, pinpointed the size of the platform as a challenge, claiming that it presented significant difficulties for the deconstruction and disposal works, which included logistical issues and the lack of an adequate facility for onshore deconstruction activities.

Mahesh Swaminathan, McDermott’s Senior Vice President of Subsea and Floating Facilities, commented: “This is our largest decommissioning project to date, reflecting our continued commitment to delivering bespoke solutions for the timely, safe, and environmentally responsible removal of infrastructure at the end of its operational life cycle.”

The new job will enable the U.S. player to provide EPRD services, including engineering, procurement, and fabrication of specialized equipment, alongside removal and transportation of the platform structure to an onshore facility for dismantling and disposal.

In addition, the contract scope also entails the removal, transportation, and disposal of a flare tower, exploration well, and subsea development system, encompassing two template wells. The project management and engineering will be executed by the firm’s team in Perth, Australia, with support from Batam, Indonesia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“McDermott’s growing decommissioning portfolio in Australia also underscores the commitment we share to continue supporting circularity efforts in a lower carbon economy,” Swaminathan added.

The new assignment in Australia comes shortly after McDermott finished its work on Shell’s gas project offshore Malaysia.