This ICON Engineering interview with Managing Director David Field, published in APAC Outlook’s oil and gas coverage, looks back at nearly three decades of offshore engineering work and forward at where the company is heading next. Founded in Perth, Western Australia in 1997, ICON has grown from a three-person start-up into a company with projects spanning the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the US, Canada, Singapore, the UK, Trinidad, the Middle East, Norway and the North Sea, alongside its home base in Australia.
Nearly three decades of offshore problem-solving
The ICON Engineering interview traces Field’s path into the industry: after studying civil engineering at the University of Western Australia and starting out in the water sector, he was drawn offshore by a friend’s work on the Piper Alpha platform replacement following the 1988 disaster. That led to a formative stint at UK engineering firm Brown and Root Vickers, followed by roles at Saipem, Clough and WAPET (now Chevron), before Field and two colleagues founded ICON to specialise in offshore oil platform installation.
ICON’s first job was a float-over platform installation in Malaysia — a serious undertaking for a three-person company, as Field recalls in the interview. From there, he built a track record managing the installation of jackets and topsides using both float-over and jack-up rig methods across dozens of countries, work that now sits behind ICON’s motto, “legendary innovation, practical solutions.” Field describes engineers who “follow designs through to offshore execution,” rather than stopping at the drawing board, as central to how ICON operates.
A business built on repeat clients, not one-off wins
One figure stands out in the ICON Engineering interview: approximately 80 percent of ICON’s revenue comes from repeat clients, referrals, or unsolicited work — a signal, Field argues, that the company’s reputation for solving problems other contractors won’t touch is doing much of the commercial heavy lifting. The interview covers how that same problem-solving culture was applied to major accident event (MAE) risk reduction on new drilling rigs for two global operators, and how ICON balances long-term supplier relationships against sourcing locally in the countries where it operates, treating local sourcing as good for both the client and the community.
What the ICON Engineering interview reveals about culture and what’s next
Field also speaks candidly about the industry’s transition from oil and gas toward renewable energy, arguing that offshore engineering skills built up over decades — safely installing floating and fixed facilities — translate directly to offshore wind. The interview covers ICON’s growing use of AI for productivity and knowledge-sharing, its post-pandemic use of video conferencing to work across borders, and its continued push into new international markets.
It also gives a rare look at ICON’s culture beyond the engineering itself, including some distinctly non-technical stories about what the company’s own engineers get up to outside work — from world-record mountaineering to feature-length documentary appearances. Field ties this back to a customer-satisfaction philosophy the company takes seriously enough to have workshopped its own four-word motto from client feedback rather than a marketing brief.
Read the full interview
The complete ICON Engineering interview covers all of this in more depth, including Field’s account of ICON’s first job in Malaysia, its approach to customer satisfaction and long-term client relationships, and its plans for expanding into currently untapped markets. It’s available to read on APAC Outlook’s website, or you can download the full interview as a PDF.
For more on ICON’s history and the capabilities referenced in the interview, see our company history and wellhead platforms pages.
