The closing date is fast approaching for the submission of bids to deliver Phase 2 of Australia's Northern Endeavour decommissioning programme.
Lead contractor bids must be submitted by 1 December 2025 on the AusTender platform. The Phase 2 RFT document provides essential guidance for preparing a compliant and completed tender response.
The Northern Endeavour is a 274 m long floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility. It was permanently moored between the Laminaria and Corallina oil fields, about 550 km northwest of Darwin in the Timor Sea. Following liquidation of the former private owner, the Commonwealth now owns the Northern Endeavour FPSO. The Australian government is now decommissioning, disconnecting and disposing of the FPSO and remediating the Laminaria-Corallina oilfields.
The decommissioning programme is being managed in three phases.
Phase 2 of the Northern Endeavour programme includes permanently plugging and abandoning nine wells in the Laminaria and Corallina oil fields in a planned two-stage process. Stage 1 will involve project management, engineering, logistics, regulatory approval, subcontracting and procurement activities to: design and plan to permanently plug and abandon the wells; develop a Stage Gate Review Pack outlining a pricing model with detailed budget, risk profile and Performance Management Framework; and achieve Registered Operator status and monitor and maintain the Laminaria Corallina oil fields.
Stage 2 will include: permanently plugging and abandoning the wells; project management, engineering, procurement and field monitoring; meeting all regulatory requirements, including a National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) approved Safety Case.
Phase 1 of the Northern Endeavour decommissioning project is progressing well. With the help of Petrofac, the lead contractor for Phase 1, the FPSO has been disconnected and towed to Singapore. While in Singapore, the vessel will undergo further work to remove protrusions and strengthen and repaint the hull for its journey to Denmark for recycling.
Phase 3 will involve removing subsea infrastructure and remediating the Laminaria and Corallina fields.
