JDR’s subsea umbilicals to help Beach increase Otway gas production

JDR Cable System, a subsea technologies provider owned by TFKable Group, has secured a contract with Australian Beach Energy to deliver subsea umbilicals for the Otway Basin off the Victorian coastline.

Under the contract, JDR will supply four subsea umbilicals, ranging from 400 to 4,360 metres in length, and termination hardware, including hydraulic and electrical flying leads.

As part of a subsea production system, the umbilicals are expected to help Beach Energy increase production from its Otway Gas Plant and deliver a new supply of gas to Australia’s East Coast.

The Otway Basin covers an area of 150,000 square kilometres and spans from southeastern South Australia to southwestern Victoria, with 80% lying offshore in water depths ranging from 50 to 3,000 metres.

In Victoria, Beach’s operations in the basin involve natural gas production from the Halladale and Speculant natural gas fields, as well as the Geographe and Thylacine gas fields, with natural gas being piped and processed at the Otway Gas Plant near Port Campbell.

Now, JDR’s umbilical with a subsea distribution unit (SDU) will be installed through an existing J-tube on the Thylacine well head platform.

A second umbilical will be connected to the SDU to tie in the Thylacine North-1 well which is four kilometres northwest of the platform. This cable will also have an integral SDU which will allow two additional subsea umbilicals to connect the Thylacine North-2 and Thylacine West drill centres.

The scope of work also includes JDR providing electrical and hydraulic flying leads to connect the four subsea wellheads to terminations on each umbilical. The company will also supply service technicians for installation and commissioning.

The umbilicals and accessories will be manufactured at JDR’s facility in Hartlepool, the UK, from which the umbilicals will be packed and shipped by sea using 9.2-metre cable installation reels. Delivery is currently scheduled for September 2022.

Commenting on the contract, JK Lim, region manager for Singapore at JDR, said: “This award marks a key milestone in our Asia Pacific success story, as we continue to prove our subsea capabilities in this competitive market.

“The Otway project is one of our largest umbilical contracts to date, so it’s an extremely proud moment for the team. But we won’t stop there, Australasia is an important location for us, and we see an abundance of opportunity here.”

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NOTE: The original article has been updated.