Woodside Energy expects Australian production disruption to be short

Oct. 26, 2000
Woodside Energy Ltd. said a fire on Wednesday caused it to shut down production from the Laminaria and Corallina fields, but disruption to flow is expected to be minimal. The company has begun an investigation into the blaze on the Northern Endeavour floating production, storage, and offloading vessel, which produces from the fields in block AC/L5 off Australia.


Woodside Energy Ltd. said a fire on Wednesday caused it to shut down production from the Laminaria and Corallina fields, but disruption to flow is expected to be minimal. The company has begun an investigation into the blaze on the Northern Endeavour floating production, storage, and offloading vessel, which produces from the fields in block AC/L5 off Australia.

The fire was localized at the LPG-recovery system, said Woodside.

Production was automatically shut-in as soon as the fire began. The vessel�s automatic deluge system and on-board fire response crew quickly controlled the blaze. No one was injured and no environmental problems were caused, said the company.

Woodside expects the damage to the system to be minimal. Production should begin again on Friday, said the company.

Equity interests in production license AC/L5 and the Corallina oil field are Woodside Energy Ltd., 50%; BHP Petroleum (North West Shelf) Pty. Ltd., 25%; and Shell Development (Australia) Pty. Ltd., 25%. Equity interests in the Laminaria oil field are Woodside, 44.9%; BHP, 32.6%; and Shell, 22.5%.