Basker Manta Field Operations Recommence

The arrival of the CSO Venturer at the Basker Manta Project location in Bass Strait earlier this week signaled the recommencement of field operations leading to Full Field Development production.

The CSO Venturer, a construction and diving support vessel, installed the subsea manifold yesterday. The 70 tonne manifold was fabricated in Melbourne and it has the function of controlling production from the four completed Basker wells and the one completed Manta well. As of today the CSO Venturer has commenced the installation of the flowline to Manta-2A and will complete the installation of all other subsea equipment, subject to weather, in the next four weeks.

The two production vessels are currently stationed in Singapore. The FPSO, Crystal Ocean, has had the installation of the gas compression and associated facilities completed this week. Function testing of all of the equipment on the Crystal Ocean must be satisfactorily completed before it commences its voyage back to the Basker Manta site in Bass Strait. With an anticipated trouble free process the Crystal Ocean will arrive on location and be hooked up to the existing flowline to the manifold in the first week of November 2006. Full production of the projected 25,000 bopd is scheduled to commence later that month.

The shuttle tanker, Basker Spirit, has had a routine Marine inspection as well as a new bow loading extension installed while in Singapore. The modifications to the loading system is a consequence of what was learnt during the Extended Production Test and will contribute to a safer and more cost efficient hook up procedure at the Single Point Mooring. Currently efforts are being made to have the Basker Spirit transport and deliver a load of fuel oil from Singapore to a location in Australasia to defray the cost of the return journey. The Basker Spirit is scheduled to return to the Bass Strait mooring in time to receive production from the Crystal Ocean.

The participants in the Basker-Manta Joint Venture are Anzon Australia as the operator with 50% and Beach Petroleum with the remaining 50%.