Offshore Activities- Gippsland


Upcoming Offshore Activities.

Sole Gas Field Production

Cooper Energy's offshore assets are subject to ongoing inspection, maintenance and repair (based on regulator-approved Safety Cases for subsea infrastructure and Well Operations Management Plans for wells) to confirm and maintain the integrity of the infrastructure.

Basker Manta Gummy Field Decommissioning

The discontinued Basker Manta Gummy (BMG) subsea oil development is located entirely within Retention Lease VIC/RL13 (see map below) in Commonwealth waters (beyond three nautical miles from the shore). The development lies in water depths circa 135 m – 270 m, approximately 50 km from the Victorian coastline, south of Cape Conran.

Historically the BMG development produced light crude oil. Production at these facilities ceased in 2010 and as such, we plan to decommission the site from 2023-2026 as required under approval by the Australian Government. A petroleum safety zone surrounds the facilities prohibiting vessels from being in the area.

Facilities Decommissioning

The decommissioning works will comprise two phases.

Phase 1 of decommissioning at BMG will:

  • Prepare the facilities for decommissioning through cleaning and flushing activities.
  • Safely install cement plugs deep inside the offshore wells to permanently seal them by the end of 2023.
  • Remove subsea structures from the seabed; this aspect may be completed in Phase 2. The wells and manifold pile will be left in situ below the seabed.
  • Complete seabed/debris surveys.

This scope requires a bespoke Well Intervention Vessel and one or more support vessels. These will operate inside the BMG Field for approximately 120 days (24/7). Support vessels will also transit between BMG and a port in the region.

The Environment Plan for the Phase 1 scope has been accepted by the regulator NOPSEMA and is available to view- BMG Closure Project Phase 1 EP. We have also prepared an annual project progress report which provides further details and can be viewed here.

Phase 2 of decommissioning will include removing any remaining structures and, as a base case, removing all flowlines and umbilicals, leaving a clear seabed. One or more construction support vessels may be used for this scope; the activity duration is likely to be in the order of 30 days. The window for this activity is 2024-2026, with the possibility of some follow-up inspection and monitoring.

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