Maari oilfield gears back up following crack in platform

The Maari oilfield is set to resume production this week after a crack was discovered in one of its platforms late last year.

Located roughly 80 kilometres off the coast of Taranaki, Maari - established in 2009 - is New Zealand’s second largest crude oil field and is owned primarily by OMV New Zealand.

During a scheduled underwater inspection in late November, a 1.4 metre crack was found in one of the well-head platform’s 12 horizontal struts, roughly four metres below the waterline, causing OMV to shut down all operations and take 30 staff off the platform.

According to initial reports by OMV the crack was caused by fatigue from wind and wave action, and it was not possible to tell whether it was made worse by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which rocked the country just after midnight on November 14.

A temporary fix was put in place in December - in the form of three clamps around the crack - but the platform remained closed for another month for other scheduled maintenance.

OMV predicted it would re-open the field in early 2017 and operations have been progressively resuming this week.

A spokesperson for OMV said two options were being explored for a permanent solution and would hopefully be finalised by the end of the month and installed mid-way through the year.

Maari was scheduled to shut down on December 5 for scheduled maintenance regardless of the discovery of the crack.

While OMV wouldn’t disclose its oil-production numbers, OMV’s senior vice-president for Australasia, Gabriel Selischi, said that ‘‘production as a result of the shutdown is considered deferred production as the petroleum will be extracted at a later date’’.

The 30 staff at the platform were paid during the shutdown.

- Jeremy Wilkinson