AFTER delays that may end up costing Cooper Energy an extra $80 million, decommissioning of the Basker Manta Gummy Field off Gippsland in Bass Strait is underway with specialised vessel Q7000.
Q7000, owned by Houston’s Helix Energy Solutions Group, arrived in Geelong on 3 December 2023 after completing decommissioning work of the Tui Field offshore New Plymouth in NZ. After loading equipment and supplies it departed 15 December for Bass Strait.
In an ASX release this week Cooper Energy said while Q7000 had now begun work on the first well, Basker-3, the vessel’s late arrival at the BMG field resulted in the company incurring more than three months of holding costs for the remaining contractor spread on the BMG programme.
“In addition, more time was required during start-up activities, due to a number of factors including loading of equipment and integration of the Integrated Riser System (IRS),” it said. The company anticipates that the start-up delays will not impact the remainder of the [six-well] program, especially given learnings from the Basker-3 de-com work.
Equipped with an IMO-certified DP3 system and the Helix-designed IRS, Q7000 can execute well intervention and decommissioning operations in water depths ranging from 85m to 3,000m.
With its open deck plan and tri-axial configuration, the Q7000 is capable of a wide range of production enhancement operations as well as well clean-up and field development support, Helix says. It is equally optimized for well decommissioning, including suspension, tubing removal, tree recovery and sea floor clearance.
It is being attended on this job by OSVs MMA Vigilant and Pacific Gannet.
