Woodside Energy has submitted a plan to undertake subsea decommissioning activities for the Minerva Field, located 11km off Victoria.
As per NOPSEMA, Woodside plans to remove all subsea infrastructure and equipment from the seabed associated with the Minerva development.
Some of the activities include ongoing field management activities, removal of the Minerva gas pipeline bundle and removal of Minerva subsea infrastructure.
The decommissioning activities are planned to commence as early as Q3 of 2024 and will require approximately three to five months.
The offshore Minerva gas field is located in title area VIC/L22 and comprises the Minerva subsea pipeline which runs from the Minerva wells to the boundary of the Victorian state waters.
The field was discovered in March 1993. Production of the filed ceased in September 2019 and the Minerva-3 and Minerva-4 wells were suspended.
The facilities are comprised of four wells, associated subsea infrastructure, subsea pipeline and the piggyback umbilical bundle.
Since cessation, pipeline and flowlines have been flushed and preserved, well barriers have been isolated and tested, flowlines have been disconnected and subsea facilities integrity inspections were complete with no issues identified.
Following the merger between Woodside and BHP in 2022, the titleholders for VIC/L22 and VIC/PL33 are Woodside and Cooper energy with Woodside acting as operator of the titles.
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