Work begins at Barry Beach for ExxonMobil rig decommissioning project
ExxonMobil says the oil rig decommissioning project at Barry Beach will provide continuing local employment opportunities.
EARLY onshore construction works have officially commenced at Barry Beach Marine Terminal (BBMT) marking a vital milestone for Australia’s largest offshore oil and gas rig decommissioning project.
Infrastructure logistics provider Qube has begun critical upgrades to prepare the historic South Gippsland port facility to act as the primary onshore reception hub for ExxonMobil Australia’s (Esso’s) major Bass Strait rig removal program.
The extensive decommissioning program, scheduled to launch its offshore infrastructure removal phase in 2027, represents a significant economic opportunity for the Gippsland region.
For nearly six decades the Barry Beach facility has served as the key construction and maintenance depot powering the legacy Bass Strait gas fields. Now, the site will oversee the closing stage of the domestic energy lifecycle.
ExxonMobil Project Manager Richard Perry, who recently briefed members of the Committee for Gippsland said the project will provide structural employment continuity for the local region.
The transition from offshore fossil fuel production to large-scale infrastructure processing is expected to support hundreds of skilled engineering, marine, and logistics jobs.
More significantly localised supply chain opportunities will flow into South Gippsland as specialized regional contractors are integrated into the project. To date, Esso Australia has already completed nearly $3 billion in early offshore decommissioning works.
These baseline activities include permanently sealing more than 200 non-producing wells in the Bass Strait and safely processing over 10,000 tonnes of legacy steel and concrete.
The current upgrades being executed by Qube focus on installing heavy foundations and specialized hardstands to absorb the sheer weight of giant offshore topsides and jacket structures when they arrive at the quay.
A central priority for the Barry Beach hub, according to Esso Australia has been the establishment of a high-efficiency circular economy. Decommissioning team managers estimate that more than 95 per cent of all materials brought back to shore from the offshore platforms will be successfully recycled or repurposed.
It is estimated 60,000 tonnes of offshore infrastructure benchmarked at 90 per cent steel, concrete, and copper will be diverted from waste to be recycled.
The ultimate disposal, sorting, and structural dismantling contract has been awarded to local Victorian recycling specialist CMA Contracting, a subsidiary of the Delta Group.
By processing thousands of tonnes of high-grade industrial steel within Gippsland, the project aims to minimize long-distance transport while feeding critical raw materials back into domestic industrial supply chains.
The logistics plan has been optimised to respect environmental parameters near the Ramsar-listed Corner Inlet wetlands. To protect local marine ecosystems, ExxonMobil has updated its entry strategies to avoid widening or deep dredging the shipping channels.
Instead, massive heavy-lift vessels operating in Commonwealth waters will offload the severed platforms onto shallow-draft transport barges. These low-draft vessels will then navigate existing channels safely to transport materials directly to the reinforced Barry Beach Marine Terminal wharf.
Once onshore, the structures will be meticulously dismantled over a two-to-three-year period. This measured approach has been planned to allow regulatory compliance to align with strict guidelines set by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).
