WOOD has been appointed to play a key part in planning work for a major gas development off Western Australia.

The Aberdeen-based engineering giant said it will support Woodside in concept definition studies for the proposed Scarborough deep water development around 225 miles offshore.

The results will help Woodside to decide on the best way of developing the field.The work will cover areas such as the kind of floating production unit and subsea facilities to be used on the field.

Wood did not disclose a value for the contract, which was awarded under an existing long-term service agreement.

The head of Wood’s technical solutions arm, Bob MacDonald, described the project as a significant opportunity.

Wood has been aiming to capitalize on growth opportunities in overseas markets amid the slowdown in North Sea activity triggered by the slump in the crude price between summer 2014 and early 2016.

It recently won contracts to perform subsea studies for Woodside on the planned development of the SNE field off Senegal. Woodside is developing SNE with Edinburgh’s Cairn Energy.

The work on Scarborough will be completed by Wood staff based in the USA and Australia.