Wood Group's 10 Top-Valued Projects Awash in Offshore LNG, with Gulf Coast, Synthetic Fuels to Boot

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Wood Group plc (Aberdeen, Scotland), one of the world's most far-reaching oil and gas service companies, has a slew of offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects at the top of its to-do list, with some big plans for ethylene and synthetic-fuel projects not too far behind. Industrial Info's project database is tracking 140 projects, worth $58.45 billion, that involve Wood Group in some capacity, with more than half of that total attributed to the 10 highest-valued projects. More than 95% of the total can be found in four industries: Oil & Gas Production, Oil & Gas Pipelines, Alternative Fuels and Chemical Processing.

The largest active project involving Wood Group has all but ground to a halt: Exxon Mobil Corporation NYSE:XMO)(Irving, Texas) and BHP Billiton Petroleum's (NYSE:BHP) (Melbourne, Australia) $7.48 billion Scarborough floating LNG production facility, offshore Australia. Low prices and a global glut in produced LNG have made it difficult for BHP and Exxon to justify prioritizing the project, although they now have plenty of time to weigh their options: Late last year, the Australian government agreed to extend the partners' decades-long retention lease for Scarborough by another five years, according to The West Australian.

Wood Group's subsidiary Mustang Engineering (Greenville, South Carolina) is slated to perform design-engineering services for the project. For more details, including current schedules, environmental and equipment needs, and contractor contact information, see Industrial Info's project report.

ExxonMobil and BHP remain optimistic that their venture will not meet the same fate as another floating LNG plan that had included Wood Group's services: INPEX Corporation (Minato, Japan) and Royal Dutch Shell plc's (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) now-defunct $14.8 billion Abadi FLNG facility, offshore Indonesia. INPEX and Shell began to downsize their workforce at the facility earlier this year, after the Indonesian president rejected the plan in favor of an onshore facility, effectively freezing any development. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

But one major offshore project that is set to be completed next year can be found in North America: Hess Corporation's (NYSE:HES) (New York City, New York) $4 billion Stampede Oil Production Platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mustang subsidiary is performing front-end engineering and design (FEED) services. Hess, which will operate the platform and owns a 25% working interest in the project, expects the project to become a major cash generator by 2018. Statoil, Nexen Petroleum Offshore and a subsidiary of Chevron also have 25% shares. For more information, including components and specifications, see Industrial Info's project report.

The Mustang subsidiary also is involved in one of the highest-priced Alternative Fuels Industry projects in the U.S.: D'Arcinoff Group Incorporated's (Washington, D.C.) $4.6 billion synthetic fuels production plant in Sierra Blanca, Texas. The project, still in its early planning phases, is expected to produce low-emission transportation fuel from greasewood biomass. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Wood Group is serving as automation contractor for a project at the largest chemical plant and oil-refining complex in the U.S.: ExxonMobil's $2.5 billion ethylene unit addition at its olefins facility in Baytown, Texas. The unit will use ethane to produce ethylene as the primary feedstock to support proposed downstream polyethylene units. Facilities like Baytown's are a bright spot in the market, providing economic support to corporations like ExxonMobil that have had to reduce spending plans amid the oil price slump. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

The six other highest-valued projects involving Wood Group:

• $3 billion crude-oil production platform, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador
  For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $2.35 billion wellhead platform, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador
  For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $2.24 billion floating natural gas production system, offshore Australia
  For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $2 billion gravity-based, crude-oil structure, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador
  For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $2 billion oil-production platform subsea installation in the Gulf of Mexico
  For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
• $1.5 billion natural gas FPSO facility, offshore South Africa
  For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.