Crack on one of MOPU’s legs turns oil production taps off offshore Thailand

Canada-based oil and gas company Valeura Energy has suspended production at its oil field in the Gulf of Thailand as a precautionary measure following an anomaly detected on the field’s mobile offshore production unit (MOPU).

The Canadian player explained that production was stopped after a crack was identified within one of the steel jack-up legs at the MOPU Ingenium, which serves as the production facility on the Wassana field offshore Thailand. This was detected during a scheduled underwater inspection, thus, Valeura denied any incident or adverse impact on people or the environment. The company claims operations at the field were suspended out of precaution until further inspection and analysis are concluded to determine whether the crack could pose a risk to the MOPU’s structural integrity. 

Valeura is engaged with a team of internal and external experts to define the optimal course of action and intends to provide an update as soon as more details are available, including in the Q2 2024 operations update it plans to publish next week.

The firm has also been active in another field it operates in the Gulf of Thailand – Nong Yao. Last month, it acquired a floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel deployed at the field, the FSO Aurora. The Canadian player quoted operational flexibility, which entails cost optimization, as the reason behind the purchase.

Another MOPU, TSeven Shirley, started its journey from a shipyard in China to the Nong Yao field in February to serve as the wellhead production platform for the firm’s Nong Yao C field development.  The oil and gas player also made three new gas discoveries during its drilling campaign in April, followed by launching a development drilling campaign in late May.