Paul Abernethy is Senior Operations Manager at Wood, overseeing and managing operations and maintenance contracts across Western Australia and the Northern Territory. With deep experience supporting both onshore and offshore assets, Paul works closely with operators to drive safe, reliable and efficient asset performance.
In maintenance, outcomes are delivered by a workforce that know the asset, know the job and know how to execute safely and efficiently. At Wood, we have spent over 25 years peroforming maintenance execution across Australia. We work alongside partners like Santos, Esso Australia and Ampol on complex onshore and offshore assets, many approaching the late life stage.
Quietly, yet confidently, we’ve been enhancing asset integrity and increasing operational efficiency across several onshore and offshore assets that are critical to energy security.
A maintenance workforce built for execution based in the Northern Territory and Western Australia
Across Australia and the wider Asia Pacific region, we have invested in a blue-collar workforce of more than 2,300 people, skilled in mechanical, electrical and instrumentation, rigging, crane operations and specialist disciplines.
Nearly 900 of these personnel are in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, where onshore and offshore oil and gas assets demand local capacity, competence and knowledge.
Our stable, experienced, safety‑driven workforce is backed by structured training, competency management and leadership development. Our people have worked across our client’s assets for many years – in some cases decades – whether in an engineering, operations or consulting capacity.
That depth of knowledge matters when it comes to maintenance.
On live LNG facilities, for example, productivity is driven by familiarity with plant systems, processes, procedures, interfaces and constraints, and by people who can execute maintenance safely, reliably and consistently.
Big challenges, solved by simple, safe and efficient execution
LNG assets present the same challenges many operators are facing globally - ageing infrastructure, pressure on operating costs, workforce availability, drive for productivity and the need to improve execution - without increasing risk.
While AI and technology can contribute incredible value in optimising maintenance, what we know works is disciplined execution.
Trained and competent people, robust planning and scheduling, knowledgeable and supportive supervision and continuous improvement that is grounded in frontline reality, enhanced by digital tools that add further value to our everyday maintenance operations.
What execution excellence really looks like on site
Even in more focused operations and maintenance support, like labour supply, we see opportunities to elevate execution. This includes:
- Supporting integrated asset planning and scheduling processes
- Ensuring work authorisations and perimetry are in in place
- Materials, tooling and access resolved in advance
- Clear scopes, realistic durations and disciplined close‑out
- Tradespeople doing what they are trained to do, not chasing information
We consistently see that the biggest productivity losses occur in planning, scheduling work authorisation and coordination, not in the trades themselves.
When working within client systems, structures and supervision, we help establish clear baselines, challenge inefficiencies and identify improvements that stick - whether that’s improving work planning and preparation or using digital tools to increase visibility of tool time.
Low‑cost does not mean low‑capability
There is a common misconception amongst operators that low‑cost operations means compromising on quality or safety. However, our experience shows the opposite.
Our maintenance programs have delivered measurable productivity gains and value add while maintaining strong safety performance. Wood’s ability to deliver structurally higher maintenance value comes from competitive market rates and focused overheads, high workforce retention, self‑performing trades across disciplines and continuous improvement driven by leadership, supervisors and crafts as one team.
We’ve seen programmes deliver significant lifecycle maintenance cost improvements through inventory and spares optimisation, boosted tool time, improved compliance and enhanced shutdown performance – here’s a snapshot of some of our key results:
- 25% reduction in annualised maintenance and overdue backlog
- 30% increase in field maintenance execution tool-time
- 10% reduction in annualised vendor expenditure
- 30% reduction in inventory and spares requirements
We see good performance on site maintenance as an outcome of consistent leadership, disciplined systems and a workforce that understands maintenance fundamentals.
Scalable, proven, and ready when it counts
Beyond core maintenance, we bring deep shutdown and turnaround capability, with access to national and regional resources across all major trades. From large‑scale refinery turnarounds to offshore and onshore LNG campaigns, our blue‑collar teams are dependable when ramping up, executing under pressure and demobilising without disruption.
This is not new territory for us. We are currently delivering maintenance and turnaround services on assets such as Prelude FLNG, Ampol Lytton, Esso Longford and others - often transitioning work seamlessly from incumbents while retaining critical plant knowledge and workforce continuity. We are proud to apply 40 years of demonstrated turnaround and maintenance experience across major contracts, bringing valuable lessons learned to our processes.
Minimising disruption from day one
Contract transitions are one of the highest risk moments in an asset’s lifecycle. Knowledge can be lost overnight, execution rhythms disrupted and productivity impacted long before any improvement initiatives have the chance to take hold.
Over the past seven years alone, we have successfully executed more than 35 major maintenance and operations contract transitions, many on live LNG, refinery and complex assets.
In several cases, we have transitioned work directly from incumbents while preserving critical plant knowledge, workforce continuity and day‑one operational readiness.
The real value comes from our people – this time in the form of a dedicated transition manager who is solely focused on how we maintain production and minimise disruption.
A reliable partner, now and for the future
For operators in Australia, choosing a maintenance partner today is not just about the next contract term. It is about who can support assets safely and productively over the next decade and more - through ageing infrastructure, workforce change and increasing cost pressure.
We bring over 40 years of blue‑collar execution excellence, proven on some of the most demanding assets in the region, to deliver safe, reliable and cost‑effective maintenance for our clients.
Our message is simple: Wood has the people, the experience and the capability to execute maintenance - and to do it well.
Article author
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Paul Abernethy
Senior Operations Manager
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