Australia: Triangle Energy Shuts Two Cliff Head Wells

Australian oil and gas firm Triangle Energy has shut production from two wells ell at the Cliff Head offshore field, one due to a pump failure, the other as a precautionary measure.

"Production from CH6 [well] was shut-in on the afternoon of 17 June 2020 due to an Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) failure, the cause of which the company is currently investigating. 

The company said Thursday it had also shut the output from the CH7 well on June 17, as a precautionary measure during routine operational maintenance to enable the testing of the integrity of the lower completion part of the well and allow a forward remediation plan to be approved and implemented in the immediate future. 

"The Company is evaluating the options to return CH7 to production at the earliest opportunity, including near term return to production and/or a workover pre-scheduled for October 2020," Triangle said Thursday.

"The company anticipates production to stabilize at approximately 590 bopd from the other primary producing wells while these maintenance issues are resolved," Triangle Energy said.

To remind, Triangle Energy had in February shut production from its shallow-water Cliff Head Alpha oil platform citing an electrical fault. Production resumed in March.

Production from the Cliff Head field was more than 1000 barrels of oil per day on December 20, 2019. The field is located in the Perth Basin approximately 270 kilometers north of Perth and 12 kilometers off the coast of Dongara in Western Australia. The offshore field sits at a water depth of 15-20 meters.

Oil from the field is produced via electrical submersible pump production wells, with produced water reinjected into three injection wells at the offshore platform. The platform is connected to the onshore Arrowsmith Stabilisation Plant by twin 14km production and injection pipelines.

The crude oil is then trucked to BP at its Kwinana refinery south of Perth.  

Related Stories