Shell Todd Oil Services to Decommission Maui B FPSO
Crown Minerals
Shell Todd Oil Services has announced the decommissioning of its floating Maui B oil production vessel which will mean the end of crude oil production from New Zealand's largest oil as well as gas field.
STOS said that the Maui FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) vessel Whakaaropai which has been permanently moored near the Maui B platform since 1996. The exact decommissioning time is still to be confirmed though it could be as early as this summer.
Crude oil production levels have been steadily declining in recent years and have reached the point where the platform was no longer economical, STOS general manager Paul Zealand said.
"We've exhausted the oil. It has come to the end of its natural life," he said.
The depletion of Maui's oil reserves did not mean that there was any end in site for the production of Maui's natural gas, Mr. Zealand said.
Maui will also continue to produce light oil liquids in the form of condensate which is extracted from the gas flow.
The Whakaaropai was converted from a tanker specifically for the Maui role. Oil from wells at the Maui B fixed platform is fed to the FPSO where it is processed and stored on board until periodic offloading to other tankers.
Mr. Zealand said the installation will hopefully be of some interest to other oil productions facilities around the world. "It is worth a lot of money to someone who can use it, but at the other end it is only scrap."
STOS have employed a broker to market the platform internationally.
The company is looking redeploy the 25 staff employed on the project within the organization, Mr. Zealand said.
STOS said that the Maui FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) vessel Whakaaropai which has been permanently moored near the Maui B platform since 1996. The exact decommissioning time is still to be confirmed though it could be as early as this summer.
Crude oil production levels have been steadily declining in recent years and have reached the point where the platform was no longer economical, STOS general manager Paul Zealand said.
"We've exhausted the oil. It has come to the end of its natural life," he said.
The depletion of Maui's oil reserves did not mean that there was any end in site for the production of Maui's natural gas, Mr. Zealand said.
Maui will also continue to produce light oil liquids in the form of condensate which is extracted from the gas flow.
The Whakaaropai was converted from a tanker specifically for the Maui role. Oil from wells at the Maui B fixed platform is fed to the FPSO where it is processed and stored on board until periodic offloading to other tankers.
Mr. Zealand said the installation will hopefully be of some interest to other oil productions facilities around the world. "It is worth a lot of money to someone who can use it, but at the other end it is only scrap."
STOS have employed a broker to market the platform internationally.
The company is looking redeploy the 25 staff employed on the project within the organization, Mr. Zealand said.
RELATED COMPANIES
Most Popular Articles
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Macquarie Strategists Expect Brent Oil Price to Grind Higher
- Japan Failing to Meet Corporate Demand for Clean Power: Amazon
- Pennsylvania County Joins List of Local Govts Suing Big Oil over Climate
- UK Oil Regulator Publishes New Emissions Reduction Plan
- PetroChina Posts Higher Annual Profit on Higher Production
- US, SKorea Launch Task Force to Stop Illicit Refined Oil Flows into NKorea
- McDermott Settles Reficar Dispute
- Russian Navy Enters Warship-Crowded Red Sea Amid Houthi Attacks
- USA Commercial Crude Oil Inventories Increase
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Oil Demand Outpaces Expectations, Testing Calculus on Peak Crude
- House Passes Protecting American Energy Production Act
- TotalEnergies Restarts Production in Denmark's Biggest Gas Field
- Republican Lawmakers Say IEA Has Abandoned Energy Security Mission
- USA Oil and Gas Job Figures Jump
- Blockchain Demands Attention in Oil and Gas
- Houthis Warn Saudi Arabia of Retaliation If It Backs USA Attacks
- Macquarie Sees USA Oil Production Exiting 2024 at 14MM Barrels Per Day
- Summer Pump Prices Set to Hit $4 a Gallon Just as Americans Hit the Road
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension