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Oil and gas company Wood Group has announced its Mustang subsidiary has been awarded engineering and support contracts for the world's largest semi-submersible production facility.

The 70,000 tonne processing plant will serve the Ichthys gas field, off the north west coast of Australia.

The Aberdeen-based group said detailed engineering should be complete by autumn 2013.

The firm said it was thrilled to be part of "this record-setting project".

The semi-submersible platform, which will sit in 250 metres of water, will be a core component of the Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.

Gas from the field will undergo preliminary processing offshore to remove water and extract condensate.

It will then be exported to onshore processing facilities in Darwin via an 889km subsea pipeline.

The Ichthys LNG Project is expected to produce 8.4 million tonnes of LNG per annum, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.

Steve Knowles, Mustang president, said: "Our expertise in topsides design is unparalleled and we appreciate the opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities on this challenging design."

First production is expected by the end of 2016.