McDermott sends off one of its largest structures ever built to Shell’s huge gas project

July 30, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

U.S.-headquartered offshore engineering and construction player McDermott has confirmed the load-out of a jacket built for an offshore platform destined for a natural gas development, which Shell Australia, a subsidiary of the UK-headquartered energy giant Shell, operates off the coast of Western Australia.

Jacket for Crux platform on its way to Australia; Source: Shell

Following the approval of the environmental plan (EP) for the installation and cold commissioning activities at the Crux development, sanctioned in May 2022, Monadelphous, an Australian engineering group, was hired by Technip Energies for the provision of multidisciplinary services associated with the hook-up and commissioning of the Shell-operated Crux platform in Western Australia.

This project, which is being progressed by the Crux joint venture, encompassing Shell Australia as the operator and SGH Energy as its joint venture partner, secured the first environmental approval in the form of the Crux Offshore Project Proposal (OPP) in August 2020.

Located in Commonwealth waters in the northern Browse Basin, 190 kilometers offshore northwest Australia and 620 km northeast of Broome, in approximately 165 meters of water depth, the project forms part of the long-term backfill for the existing Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility.

Multimillion-dollar jobs for Monadelphous on Shell’s gas project and Australia Pacific LNG

Project & Tenders

As a result, Crux will have the capacity to supply the Prelude FLNG facility with up to 550 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd). The work is expected to be completed in late 2026, followed by first gas, which is anticipated in 2027.

According to McDermott, the Crux jacket, which is described as one of the U.S. giant’s largest structures built to date, has sailed away from Batam in Indonesia for offshore installation in Australia.

While unveiling this “major milestone,” Cecile Wake, EVP Integrated Gas and Country Chair of Shell Australia, highlighted: “Today the substructure of the Crux platform set sail, a significant milestone for the Crux Project. A big thank you to our partner, McDermott International for their exceptional work in constructing this crucial component.

“The substructure is now enroute to the Crux field, located 620 kilometres (385 miles) northeast of Broome, where it will be securely anchored to the seabed with piled foundations. The Crux development features a platform which will be operated remotely.”

The Crux natural gas field development, which includes the 165-kilometer pipeline that will connect the asset to the Prelude FLNG facility, consists of a not normally manned (NNM) platform with five production wells.

“An export pipeline will connect Crux to Prelude, which is approximately 160 kilometres southwest of the Crux field. This connection will enable the delivery of liquefied natural gas to customers worldwide and is an example of us bringing to life our ambition to be the leading integrated gas and LNG business in the world,” added Wake.