longtom progress, page-15

Miki, LT comprises 2 subsea gas wells (LT3 and LT4) located some 14km from the tie-in point (Santos pipeline). Those wells were drilled and completed some years ago (see the ASX announcements). Each well has a bunch of valves located at the top of the well and some down the well. These control and isolate the gas flow as and when required and introduce chemical into the gas flow to control corrosion and to stop the whole damn thing freezing up. The control system controls all these valves and monitors pressure and temperature. Control of the subsea wells is via an umbilical (30-40km long) running from shore to the wellheads - all this has to be hooked up and commissioned.

Anyway there is plenty that can go wrong and so predicting length of this precommissioning phase with certainty is not easy. Give NXS a break on this one - i expect there has been a few HICcoughs along the way.