FPSO ends service on Australian oil field

Nov. 1, 2012
The FPSO Four Rainbow has departed the Woollybutt oil field in the Carnarvon basin offshore Western Australia, according to partner Tap Oil.

Offshore staff

WEST PERTH, Australia – The FPSO Four Rainbow has departed the Woollybutt oil field in the Carnarvon basin offshore Western Australia, according to partner Tap Oil.

Production at Woollybutt, operated by Eni, ended in May. Field abandonment is due to start in 2015.

Offshore Ghana, Tap is operator of the200-sq km (77-sq mi) offshore Accra contract area, in water depths ranging from less than 50 m (164 ft) to more than 2,500 m (8,202 ft).

Processing of 3D seismic acquired in 2011 was completed this spring. Interpretation of the data has revealed multiple large prospects within both the post-rift Upper Cretaceous fan sands (the same play type as Jubilee) and pre-rift Lower Cretaceous rotated fault blocks (the same play type as the Espoir and Baobab oil fields off neighboring Cote d’Ivoire).

Several prospects and leads have been mapped with unrisked prospective resources of more than 3 Bbbl.

In May, Ghana’s Ministry of Energy granted a 12-month extension of the initial exploration period, which now ends on Sept. 23, 2013, by which date a commitment well must be drilled.

Tap has recommended the Starfish-1 prospect for drilling early next year, and is proceeding with the approval process. The well will target a large, deepwater, Jubilee lookalike trap with prospective resources of about 500 MMbbl.

Currently the company isfarming out part of its equity.

11/01/2012