Jobs at stake after Tamarind Resources end contract at offshore production facility
Tuesday, 15 October 2019
About 58 oil industry staff could be looking for new jobs after a company that operates a floating oil production facility offshore of Taranaki was reportedly told its contract would end in December.
On Monday Offshore Energy Today reported that Norwegian-owned BW Offshore had been told by Tamarind Resources it would not have its contract for the FPSO (a floating production storage and offloading facility) Umuroa renewed after December 31.
Around 58 workers are employed on the Umuroa, which is one of two FPSOs anchored in the Taranaki Basin. The other facility is the Raroa contracted to OMV to service the Maui and Maari fields.
The Raroa is not affected by the termination of the Umuroa contract.
Tamarind Resources and BW Offshore had not responded to requests for comment about the reports before publication of this story.
**READ MORE:
* Suspension of $300m offshore Taranaki drilling programme 'will cost jobs'**
* Oil and gas firm Tamarind granted Taranaki consents
* Tamarind Resources seek drilling consent off Taranaki Bight
The Umuroa processed crude oil from four wells in three Tui fields that are owned by Tamarind. From the Umuroa the oil is pumped onto tankers for export to Australia.
Each well is connected to the 240m long converted oil tanker, which can process up to 120,000 barrels of oil and water a day.
The Tui field production has dropped to 2200 barrels a day of oil after initially producing up to 50,000 barrels a day in 2007.
Tamarind had previously extended the contract for the Umuroa by 12 months in July 2018.
The Umuroa has been operating in the Tui field since 2007 and BW Offshore was now planning to demobilise the facility, OET reported.
The facility is one of 15 FPSO's BW Offshore operated in the major oil and gas regions around the world.
In September Tamarind halted its drilling programme in the Tui field, which it took over in 2017 from AWE, after there was no oil found in the first well of three wells planned.
It is not known if the semi-submersible CSOL Prospector rig will be carry on and drill the remaining two wells before it was contracted to OMV in December.