Umuroa unchained from Tui oil field
The multimillion-dollar Tui oil field decommissioning project is nearly complete following the disconnection of the Umuroa floating production, storage and offloading vessel.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Tui project co-ordinator said the last of the nine anchor chains that moored the Umuroa to the Tui field, 50 kilometres from the Taranaki coastline, was disconnected on Tuesday, ready for the vessel to leave New Zealand waters.
‘‘This is a major milestone for the Tui project,’’ MBIE deputy chief executive for building, resources and markets Chris Bunny said in a statement.
MBIE, on behalf of the Crown, is responsible for the decommissioning of the Tui oil field after the liquidation and receivership of Tamarind Taranaki Ltd in December 2019.
MBIE signed an agreement in November 2020 with BW Offshore to demobilise and disconnect the Umuroa.
Under the terms of the agreement the costs of the disconnection and demobilisation are covered by MBIE.
Work began in January to flush and disconnect the production lines attached to the Umuroa before the 14-year-old mooring system was disconnected.
‘‘This phase of the decommissioning has been completed within our expected timeframes and I congratulate Umuroa owners BW Offshore, contractors and the Tui Project for getting the job done on schedule and in a safe and environmentally responsible manner,’’ Bunny said.
Equipment weighing more than 230 tonnes, which was lowered to the seafloor, would be retrieved, along with other subsea infrastructure, in the next phases of the decommissioning.
MBIE expected to award contracts for the work in the coming months, he said.
The next phase of decommissioning is set to start this summer, subject to the necessary consents and contracts being in place, although there is the option to commence the work in the following summer.
The final costs of the work, which were initially estimated at $100 million, have yet to be determined.