Singapore-headquartered independent Jadestone Energy has restarted oil production from its Montara field offshore Australia after the floating production, storage and offloading vessel was offline for seven months following an earlier oil leak and faults that needed rectifying.
Jadestone on Thursday confirmed that the Montara Venture FPSO had resumed operations early on 21 March.
Production has initially recommenced from the H6 well on the Montara field, with further wells to follow, including the first Skua subsea well which will be brought on line in the coming days.
Production rates will increase with the systematic opening of additional wells in line with the restart plan, noted the operator.
The Montara Venture had been shut in since last August after a small oil leak two months before. After repairs to the FPSO’s tanks and related inspections were completed, Jadestone turned its focus to the scheduled four-yearly topsides maintenance programme, which was performed without any apparent technical glitch.
However, only last week the company admitted that while subsequently performing necessary testing on process equipment during production restart activity, a “small number of inconsistencies in standard fittings were identified”.
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Jadestone added it would announce its 2023 production guidance once Montara’s output has stabilised.
The company’s original plan to have oil flowing again from the offshore Australia field in late February was dashed by severe weather that slowed the topsides maintenance work.
“I would like to thank everyone in Jadestone who has contributed to the safe and successful restart of Montara operations as we look forward to putting this challenging period behind us and returning to business as usual.
“It is a relief to see operations at Montara being restored and we look forward to increasing production and cash flow,” commented Jadestone chief executive Paul Blakeley.
Near-term organic growth
“We also plan to return to growth, having completed three acquisitions within the last six months, with several new acquisition opportunities in the pipeline.
“Near-term organic growth from the Akatara project remains on track and with our first infill drilling programme in Malaysia, reinforcing the point that 2023 will be a big year for Jadestone.”