Esso could commence Turrum Phase 3 drilling at its Marlin B Platform in the Gippsland Basin as soon as Q3 2025, with NOPSEMA granting the project environmental approval.
Turrum Phase 3 production drilling activities involve drilling up to five additional wells on the existing Marlin B platform, approximately 42km off the Gippsland coastline, and represent the next stage of the planned development of the Turrum gas field.
The completed wells will be connected to the existing hydrocarbon production processing equipment located on the Marlin B platform.
The approved activities under the latest environmental plan, which the company submitted in January, include jack-up rig (JUR) positioning, conductor installation, drilling, completion installations, support vessels activities, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) activities and use of helicopters.
The drilling, completion and associated activities with up to five wells is expected to take around 300 days – inclusive of JUR positioning activities – depending on weather, scheduling and operations performance.
To account for potential weather and operational delays or schedule changes, the environmental assessment
accounts for the activity occurring over a full year.
Esso said operational delays or schedule changes from other prior programs using the JUR will impact the commencement
of Turrum Phase 3 production drilling activities and as such, the environmental plan will be valid from 2025 to 2026,
with potential to carry over into 2027.
The earliest date of commencement for the project is Q3 2025.
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