Asia-Pacific region focused Jadestone Energy has once again halted operations at the Montara Venture FPSO offshore Australia. The company said that a gas alarm was triggered within ballast water tank 4S, indicating possible communication with one of the adjacent tanks within the FPSO.
Jadestone said production from the Montara fields has been temporarily shut in and key stakeholders, including the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), were notified of the incident.
Tank 4S will be emptied and cleaned over the next week to permit an inspection to identify the source of the communication between tanks and allow for appropriate repairs, the company said in its media statement. Following the inspection, a further update will be provided outlining next steps, any potential costs and any impact to production guidance, it added.
This is not the first time water tank 4S is causing issues at the Montara project located in production licenses AC/L7 and AC/L8 in the Timor Sea, offshore Western Australia.
The company previously halted production in June 2022 when a small leak of oil from a crude oil tank on the Montara Venture FPSO was reported. An interim repair and subsequent restart of production from Montara was achieved, with the company working to complete a permanent repair to tank 2C.
However, in August, the company said that during preparations for this repair, an additional internal defect in water ballast tank 4S was detected and that this would also be included in the workscope of repairs. The company decided that month to temporarily shut-in production from Montara and reorganize offshore manpower on the FPSO enabling priority and focus on maintenance and inspection crews. However, production did not restart until March 2023.
“While disappointing and frustrating to have to shut in Montara again, we will find and repair any additional defect while continuing with the overall planned program of inspection of the storage tanks on the FPSO. The safety of our personnel, as well as the long-term integrity of the asset, are paramount. We will provide a further update once the inspection of tank 4S is complete,” said Paul Blakeley, President and CEO.
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