Helix Energy Solutions has been awarded a contract by New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) for the plugging and abandonment of the wells in the Tui Oil Field.
As part of phase three of the Tui decommissioning, Helix Offshore Services, a subsidiary of the Houston-based firm, will utilise the 2019-built well intervention semisub unit Q7000.
.MBIE has submitted an application for marine consents with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) for the removal of the subsea infrastructure and the plugging and abandoning of the Tui wells. Subject to the EPA granting the marine consents, it is anticipated the plugging and abandonment work will be carried out in late 2022.
The first phase of the decommissioning of the Tui Oil Field, the disconnection and demobilisation of the FPSO Umuroa, was completed in May 2021. In October 2021, the contract for the second phase of the decommissioning process, the removal of the subsea infrastructure, was awarded to Perth-based Shelf Subsea Services. It is anticipated this phase of the work will be carried out in the summer of 2021/22 or alternatively, in the summer of 2022/23.
