Tui oil field to be decommissioned

Friday, 1 May 2020

The Umuroa at the Tui Field in the Taranaki Basin.

The government has taken ownership of the Tui oil field off Taranaki and is set to decommission the wellhead.

A Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment spokesman said in a statement the Government is taking steps to ensure that the Tui assets are well managed and properly decommissioned.

'The Crown has recently become the legal owner of the Tui assets and has commenced work to manage the assets and plan for decommissioning,' he said.

'MBIE has contracted a company that specialises in the operation and decommissioning of petroleum facilities to establish the current condition of the Tui wells and to determine options to demobilise the FPSO (floating production and storage vessel) and decommission the subsea assets.

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Oil and gas company Tamarind Taranaki, which previously operated the field, was put into receivership in 2019.

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'Once that work is available, MBIE expects to work with BW Offshore to determine the best way forward.

'MBIE also continues to engage with the liquidators and receivers of Tamarind Taranaki Ltd and Tamarind Resources Pte Ltd and the first-ranking creditor Orchard Capital Partners.'

Tamarind Taranaki which operated the field was placed in receivership in late 2019 owing $320m to creditors after the company failed to find any hydrocarbons.

MBIE had claimed $100m for the cost to decommission the field.

BW Offshore operate the floating production and storage vessel Umuroa which is anchored on the field.

The company is unable to remove the Umuroa until there is a full decommissioning of the wellhead, the Environmental Protection Authority recently said.