operators discuss new maui tui pipeline

Operators discuss new Maui-Tui pipeline

By ROB MAETZIG [email protected] - Taranaki Daily News | Saturday, 09 August 2008

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The operators of offshore Taranaki energy fields, Tui and Maui, look set to sign a special deal to allow shared use of their production facilities.

If the deal goes ahead, it will be specially significant for one of the operating companies, which is under fire for flaring off millions of cubic feet of gas during its oil production operations.

For the other company, it will provide an opportunity to make money from a pocket of crude oil discovered during gas-drilling operations. The Maui gasfield is 35km off the Taranaki coast, with the Tui oilfield a further 15km away.

While Tui is proving a huge success, producing more than 40,000 barrels of crude oil a day, the operation is being slammed by environmentalists for flaring more than 17 million cubic feet of gas a day. This amount of gas would be enough to power Auckland, and should be either piped ashore or reinjected underground for future use, critics say.

But now the Tui owners are now moving to resolve the issue.

Shell Todd Oil Services, operator of the Maui field, confirmed preliminary talks had begun on the possibility of one Maui gas production platform receiving Tui gas.

These talks followed an approach by Tui field operator Australian Worldwide Exploration. AWE's New Zealand country manager Dennis Washer refused to comment, saying it was confidential matter.

But the Taranaki Daily News understands the talks involve the possible laying of a flexible pipeline on the sea floor for transfer of the gas from Tui to a Maui platform for processing before export ashore in the existing Maui gas line.

It is also understood the same line could be used to pipe crude oil from Maui to the Tui field for processing aboard the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility there, before being exported with the Tui oil aboard tankers that regularly visit the site.

Rumours abound that this oil was discovered during the drilling of new gas prospects from the Maui A platform.

The Maui partners are currently unable to do anything with this oil, as the FPSO that spent several years at Maui during production from the Maui B oilfield is no longer on site.