Wood Group's $83 Billion Worth of Projects Include U.S. Chemical, Natural Gas Plants

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Wood Group plc (Abderdeen, Scotland), a global provider of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, is optimistic about its near-term outlook, with executives pointing to "more oil and gas work than ever before." The company expects to see stronger infrastructure investment in the U.S. and Canada, with emission targets spurring environmental consultancy and land remediation opportunities. Industrial Info is tracking more than $83 billion in active projects involving Wood Group, including nearly $9 billion in U.S. and Canadian projects that are nearing or under construction.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Wood Group's global projects, by industry.

"All of our principle business units delivered top-line growth in the first half of 2018," said David Kemp, the chief financial officer of Wood Group, in an earnings-related conference call earlier this week. "In the Americas, revenue grew 18%. Increased activity in capital projects in [prior] downstream and chemicals and in U.S. shale is more than offsetting a reduction in operation solutions, following the completion of commissioning work in 2017." He added that "there are good indicators for continued growth in U.S. shale."

Along the Texas Gulf Coast, Wood Group is providing essential services to Celanese Corporation's (NYSE:CE) (Dallas, Texas) vinyl acetate monomers (VAM) unit expansion at its Clear Lake facility in Pasadena. Celanese is adding 150,000 tons per year of capacity to the unit, totaling 450,000 tons per year. The project began construction in early 2017 and is expected to wrap up at the end of this year. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

In West Texas, Wood Group is at work on a pair of projects for Western Gas Partners LP (NYSE:WES), a master limited partnership formed by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) (The Woodlands, Texas): the first train and second train at a natural gas-processing plant in Mentone. Each will process up to 200 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Permian Basin. Both projects kicked off earlier this year and are expected to be completed in late September and late October, respectively. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the first train and second train.

"As to our particular hotspots in terms of headcount, probably the shale regions are the ones that are most active," Kemp said. "We've doubled the size of our shale business in the Permian over the last nine months, to put a kind of context around it. But we're still able to attract and retain the right quality and level of resource there. So headcount net is up, reflecting the growth in the business."

Wood Group also is at work on energy projects for individual facilities. Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) (Irving, Texas) plans to begin construction later this year on a $150 million natural gas-fired cogeneration plant at its paper mill in Chester, Pennsylvania, with Wood Group as project manager. Kimberly-Clark is ditching its coal-fired facility in favor of the new plant, which will feature a boiler and steam turbine. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

In Canada, Wood Group is providing design-engineering services for one of its more long-term projects under construction: Husky Energy Incorporated's (TSX:HSE) (Calgary, Alberta) estimated, $2.2 billion West White Rose Project offshore Newfoundland, which is expected to produce up to 75,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) at its peak. Husky says West White Rose is scheduled for completion in 2021, with first oil anticipated in 2022. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Wood Group reported total revenue of $5.38 billion for the six months ended June 30, 2018, more than double the $2.28 billion from the same period last year. A series of exceptional expenses, such as an impairment charge from a turbine services venture with Ethos Energy Group Limited (Aberdeen), led to $52 million in net losses, compared with net income of $6 million in the same period last year.

Watson brushed off the one-time expenses, however, noting that the integration process from the company's takeover of AMEC Foster Wheeler last autumn is "ahead of schedule."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 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. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.