Offshore staff
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand's biggest natural gas and condensate field Pohokura offshore New Plymouth has been completed, operator Shell Exploration NZ Ltd. says.
The $1 billion Pohokura project, a joint venture between Shell, Todd Energy, and OMV, has developed a field with estimated reserves of 884 PJ of natural gas and 44 MMbbls of condensate.
The field will supply approximately 40% of New Zealand's natural gas production.
Pohokura gas reserves are approximately twice the remaining Maui field gas reserves.
The final milestone in the construction phase of the project was reached with the departure of theEnsco 56 jackup from the offshore platform where it arrived two years ago to erect the platform and drill offshore development wells from the platform to different parts of the field.
Pohokura field lies offshore but all wells feed the onshore production station on the coast alongside the methanol plant at Motonui.
The offshore platform is remotely controlled and the onshore production station is also unattended. Shell says that both will be remotely controlled from Shell's New Plymouth offices.
Condensate, separated from the gas flow at the production station, is piped to storage tanks at Omata near New Plymouth for shipping to refineries.
TheEnsco 56
06/09/2008
