Oil field offshore Thailand coming back online soon following false alarm over issue on MOPU’s leg

Canada-based oil and gas player Valeura Energy plans to restart production operations at one of the Gulf of Thailand’s oil fields a month after it was stopped due to an issue that was spotted on one of the legs at the field’s mobile offshore production unit (MOPU).

After oil production at its Wassana field off the coast of Thailand was suspended in late June as a precaution due to an anomaly identified on one of the steel jack-up legs of the field’s MOPU Ingenium, underwater inspection has confirmed that the crack within a weld is superficial and not a risk to the facility’s structural integrity, underscored Valeura.

The company thus intends to resume production and anticipates achieving pre-suspension oil production rates of around 5,000 bbls/d within the week. Valeura affirmed that it would continue to operate within strict safety standards and undertake regular underwater inspections of its facilities and vessels.

Valeura’s President and CEO, Sean Guest, noted: “I am pleased to be able to chart a clear way forward for the Wassana field which entails resuming production as soon as possible. Our team of professionals have worked rapidly to confirm the integrity of our MOPU, providing the critical assurance we need to continue operating safely.

“At the same time, we are pursuing growth aggressively across our portfolio, including the larger-scale redevelopment of the Wassana asset. Front-end engineering and design work is progressing, and we are targeting readiness for a final investment decision on the project at approximately end 2024.”

The Wassana field is a collection of crude oil-bearing sandstone reservoir intervals of Miocene age holding an estimated 12.9 MMbbls in 2P reserves. It is part of license G10/48, owned 100% by Valeura. After restarting production stopped by the previous operator, the operator is carrying out an active infill drilling campaign to expand output from the field, while also evaluating the potential for a larger-scale re-development of the asset.

In June, the Canadian player disclosed the acquisition of the floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel Aurora, working at another field in the Gulf of Thailand, Nong Yao, in which the firm has a 90% operated interest. The company expects the acquisition to provide operational flexibility, resulting in process optimization and cost reduction.

Valeura also completed an infill drilling campaign at the field’s Nong Yao A and started development drilling on the Nong Yao C extension. Two horizontal wells were drilled at the Nong Yao A wellhead platform, which the firm claims were both successful and brought online as producers.

The drilling campaign at the Nong Yao C extension is envisaged to last around four months, comprising up to nine gross wells, including six producer wells and up to three water injectors. The first oil is expected in Q3 2024, targeting aggregate peak oil production rates of 11,000 bbls/d.