Neptune to work on Kitan disconnection project

Australia’s services and engineering company Neptune been awarded an air diving services contract by Technip for the Kitan oil field disconnection project, in the Timor Sea.

The Kitan oil field was discovered in 2008 and the production started in October 2011. The field is developed by a subsea production system with three subsea wells tied back to the Glas Dowr Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) unit.

The operator of the project, Italian oil company Eni, terminated a lease agreement for the Glas Dowr FPSO in June 2015 as cost reduction measures, including a lower lease rate, did not result in an economic sustainable production. The FPSO was originally scheduled for demobilization from the field in mid-December 2015.

According to Neptune, the project is offshore in February and includes the provision of air diving services to assist with the disconnection and abandonment of risers, mooring chains and the umbilical from the Glas Dowr FPSO in the Joint Development Petroleum Area (JDPA) in the Timor Sea, some 500km off the Australian coast.

Neptune says it will perform the services from the Crest Hydra DP2 Dive Support Vessel (DSV).

Neptune Chief Executive Officer, Robin King, said: “This is the second diving contract awarded to Neptune by Technip in recent months and we are pleased to continue to support Technip in the execution of their projects.”

Eni is the operator of Kitan field and it has 40% interest, with Inpex and Talisman Energy as its partners. In June 2014, Hibiscus Petroleum proposed an agreement to acquire Talisman Resources, a subsidiary of Talisman Energy, that owns 25% interest in the Kitan oil field, for $18 million. However, the deal fell through in June 2015 as the conditions precedent under the deal have not been satisfied by the cut-off date of May 31, 2015.

Talisman Energy on the other hand was acquired by the Spanish oil company Repsol in December 2014.

Offshore Energy Today Staff