This post gives some indication of how these divisions are most likely going to work.
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/jobs-l%C2%B2-lake-lilac.7141221/page-89?post_id=65499535When the $200B or so was being invested in Australia's LNG production capacity, one of the major players was Conoco-Phillips due to their Downstream processing facility patented Cascade process.
On the East coast this meant 6 downstream processing trains were built at Curtis island - Conoco-Phillips patented technology was key to this as it allowed mobilisation of supply chains, accommodation, skilled employees etc and the design of the 6 trains was effectively replicas of each other - ie. EPCM benefitting from economies of scale.
The Upstream component & ultimate owners of the projects were Santos, QCLNG & Origin Energy via APLNG.
Conoco-Phillips in total have built 28 of these trains.
Darwin LNG. Wheatstone LNG.
Pluto LNG Train 2 underway.
So what David Dickson has effectively done with these two division is create a structure similar to that employed above.
Downstream
- Process facility development & Operations
This is similar to the arrangement that the ultimate owners from the above projects had with their technology/process licensor & engineering partner, Conoco-Phillips with their cascade process. Except Lilac & IX tech.
Upstream
- Field Development & Evaluation - let's call this upstream
The project owners were rresponsible for this part of delivery with investors & some oversight by Conoco-Phillips as there needed to be timeline co-ordination to ensure upstream were ready when downstream was ready to start running gas through the facility. Except Lilac & IX tech.
All the above, David Dickson as CEO of McDermott had a hand in with the multitude of projects which they managed both in FEED & delivery.
Managing the delivery of the above is really hard & the time which I spent with a couple of the above projects, was fortunate enough to meet some extremely capable people.
The past few announcements have been about delivering on key inputs from both Upstream & Downstream & today's about re-establishing expectations in terms of realistic timelines.
IMO it is confidence building in terms of what to expect going forward from the new CEO.
And what I've just described above is something potential stakeholders (investors, financiers) will understand as the proof is in the scale & success of Australia's LNG industry.
(20min delay)