WATCH: ‘Engineering marvel’ performed as McDermott joins mega-structures destined for Australian project

U.S. offshore engineering and construction player McDermott has completed its portion of work on the floating production unit (FPU) to be deployed at a project off Western Australia spearheaded by Australian energy giant Woodside Energy.

The completion of fabrication, construction, and offshore floatover of the Scarborough FPU topside and hull structures by McDermott marked a milestone for the Scarborough energy project. Built separately at two different fabrication yards in China, the two mega-structures have now been joined.

Topsides fabrication was completed at McDermott’s joint venture yard, Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan (QMW), in Qingdao, China, while the hull was constructed by COSCO in its Qidong shipyard, also in China. Earlier this month, both structures were transported offshore, and the topsides were installed onto the hull via floatover off the coast of Dalian, China.

“The floatover of the FPU is an engineering marvel and builds on the safe and successful fabrication of the topsides and hull. Manoeuvring two structures that each weigh more than 30,000 tonnes at sea is an exceptionally complex operation,” noted Liz Westcott, Woodside Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Australia.

This is said to be a significant step towards the first LNG cargo, targeted for the second half of 2026. As stated by Woodside’s CEO, the Scarborough energy project is now over 82% complete.

“The remaining integration work for the FPU will continue at the fabrication yard in Yantai before sailaway to Australia. Once complete the FPU will be moored 375km off the coast of Karratha, Western Australia,” explained Westcott.

After winning the contract in 2021, McDermott delivered front-end engineering design (FEED) for the Scarborough Energy Project’s FPU. This includes engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning (EPCIC) services.

The U.S. player is in charge of the design, fabrication, integration, transportation, and installation of an approximately 30,000-ton topside and 37,000-ton hull structure. In addition to being the largest floating production facility the company has ever designed and constructed, it is said to be one of the largest semi-submersible production platforms built in offshore history. 

As described, the topsides have six deck levels, 169 core equipment units, including three gas turbine-driven export gas compressors and three main generators with waste heat recovery systems. There is also more than 50,000 meters of piping, one million meters of cabling, 568 integrated subsystems, and a battery energy storage system, supporting operational emissions reduction.

The Scarborough energy project comprises the Scarborough gas field, construction of Pluto Train 2, modifications to the existing Pluto Train 1, and the integrated remote operations center (IROC) being built in Perth. 

The Scarborough field is located in the Carnarvon Basin, approximately 375 kilometers off the coast of Western Australia. The field will be developed through new offshore facilities connected by an approximately 430-kilometer pipeline to a second liquefied natural gas (LNG) train (Pluto Train 2) at the existing Pluto LNG onshore facility.

Woodside is the operator of the Scarborough project and has a 74.9% participating interest in the Scarborough field. LNG Japan holds a 10% and JERA, which came onboard in October 2024, a 15.1% interest in the Scarborough joint venture (JV).

The project will include the installation of an FPU with eight wells drilled in the initial phase and 13 wells drilled over the life of the Scarborough gas field. Approximately 5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of Scarborough gas will be processed through Pluto Train 2, with up to 3 mtpa processed through the existing Pluto Train 1. 

The construction of the second train is ongoing. The last batch of modules arrived at the construction site in Karratha in December 2024. Woodside is the operator and holds a 51% participating interest in Pluto Train 2, while Global Infrastructure Partners holds a 49% nonoperating participating interest.