Kupe facilities commissioning begins

Dec. 4, 2009
Commissioning of the Kupe facilities has begun, according to operator Origin Energy.

Offshore staff

ADELAIDE, Australia -- Commissioning of the Kupe facilities has begun, according to operator Origin Energy. The company has opened wells and is piping first gas and liquids to an onshore gas processing plant in Hawera, New Zealand.

Once fully operational, the field is expected to satisfy 10 to 15% of New Zealand’s annual gas demand (at peak production). Over the life of the project, Kupe is expected to provide approximately 254 petajoules of natural gas, 1.1 million tonnes of LPG, and 14.7 MMbbl of light crude, the company says.

“The complex offshore and onshore Kupe production system is now being bedded down through a commissioning period,” says Andrew Sotck, executive GM of major development projects for Origin. “We expect that full steady state production will be achieved in the next couple of months.”

12/04/2009