Offshore staff
SYDNEY, Australia -- The FPSO Crystal Ocean and tanker Basker Spirit have returned to the Basker Manter Gummy (BMG) field in the Bass Strait, according to operator Roc Oil. Both were temporarily withdrawn following a maintenance and vessel survey program, during which a flare gas compressor package was installed on the Crystal Ocean. All the work was completed in November 2009, within budget, but around two weeks behind schedule, due mainly to additional duties to comply with maintenance and statutory survey requirements.
Roc Oil adds that subsea repairs and inspections were completed successfully on the Basker-2 (B2) subsea well while BMG was offline. Basker-7 (B7) development well production tests were completed across four reservoir zones during December 2009, with a maximum individual zonal rate of around 1,000 b/d of oil. Otherwise, optimization of production is ongoing from four wells (B2, B3, B7, and Manta-2A). Current production totals around 6,000 b/d.
At the Cliff Head oil field offshore Perth basin, Roc Oil reports that a workover to replace the electric submersible pump (ESP) at the CH-10 production well was completed in December 2009, while installation of a new ESP at the CH-6 production well is nearly complete. Following the overhaul at CH-10, production from Cliff Head has improved to around 5,000 b/d of oil, with further well optimization measures in progress.
Offshore China, Roc Oil says that production from the Zhao Dong field, which includes the Extended Reach Area and C-4 unitized fields, was expected to average around 18,900 b/d during the second half of 2009. In December 2009, however, Zhao Dong output was down to 9,130 b/d, partly due to well maintenance activities and repairs to a failed subsea power cable between the Zhao Dong and C-4 platforms. Severe weather since late December also has interrupted crude oil shipments, constraining production in January.
Roc Oil expects production rates to return to around 20,000 b/d by of oil the end of January, with production for the year meeting or exceeding 2009 performance.
The company has started its 2010 drilling campaign with workovers from the C-4 platform. The program includes 19 new production wells and five injection wells. The partners also plan to install a gas pipeline and initiated gas export sales to eliminate the need for gas flaring during normal operations.
01/13/2010
