Australian government hires Xodus for Northern Endeavour FPSO decom work
UK energy consultancy Xodus has been awarded a contract to provide technical and project support services for the decommissioning of the Northern Endeavour FPSO in the Timor Sea.
This contract relates to Phase 1 of decommissioning and covers the disconnection and removal of the FPSO including topsides and subsea flushing and well suspension.
Xodus will be working on behalf of the Australian Government, providing advice on project coordination, regulatory and environment, health and safety, technical, quality assurance, and contract management.
As for the remaining phases of the decommissioning, Phase 2 will cover the permanent plugging and well abandonment while Phase 3 requires the removal of subsea infrastructure and remediation of the Laminaria and Corallina fields.
The Northern Endeavour is a 274-metre-long FPSO which is permanently moored between the Laminaria and Corallina oil fields in the Timor Sea. The decommissioning follows the liquidation of the owner of the Northern Endeavour, Northern Oil and Gas Australia, in 2020.
The FPSO was bought from Woodside in 2016 as the field was nearing its end of life. At the time, the deal was criticised as Woodside was able to leave the project without covering decom costs of a project it operated for nearly 20 years. The Northern Endeavour is in the federal government’s hands in February 2020.
Petrofac was hired as an outsourced operator in 2022 to complete Phase 1 of the decommissioning of Northern Endeavour by the Australian authorities in a $236m deal. The company took over the operatorship of the FPSO in October 2022.
