The driving force in this profit surge was the company's hydrocarbons section.

Hydrocarbons aggregated revenue for the half year was $416.6m representing about 70% of the WorleyParsons businesses and an increase of 145% from the prviousr year, reflecting the significant size of the Parsons E&C hydrocarbons business. Segment EBIT was $36.1m with a reported segment margin of 8.7%.

WorleyParsons has recently announced the award of the Angel gas development FEED contract for Woodside Energy Ltd and previously announced the award of the PNG gas project FEED contract for ExxonMobil to the Eos joint venture (a joint venture of WorleyParsons and KBR).

Operational highlights include continued strong performance in Worley’s existing Australian and South East Asian hydrocarbons business and continued improvement in the operational performance in the Middle East said chief executive officer John Grill.

“Our hydrocarbons business now operates across the globe. We see real benefits for our clients by being able to offer a full range of project and alliance services wherever they operate.”

Parsons E&C’s hydrocarbons business performed ahead of expectations in the period with the operating result benefiting significantly from unusually high levels of activity from hydrocarbons projects in Kazakhstan.

Other project activity included ongoing work for the Sakhalin energy project in Russia, tar sands projects in Canada and a number of smaller FEED and detailed design projects.

Following the acquisition of Parsons E&C, the company’s interest in the Parsons Worley team - the entity executing the contract to restore Iraqi oil infrastructure – has increased from 37.5% to 85%. The work on the contract continues as the client continues to release new task orders, Grill said.

“Operating activity across the business is strong,” he said.

“We see immediate benefits from having access to Parsons E&C’s substantial capability and resources supplemented by Worley’s own high value operations in Asia, in responding to this high level of demand. The combined business remains focused on delivering on our clients’ expectations.

“The integration of the businesses is on track and we are encouraged by the results at this early stage. We are cognisant of the substantial effort required to fully realise the potential synergies from the acquisition of Parsons E&C and expect the benefits to continue in coming years.”