Australia's Montara Field Producing Again, Four Years after Oil Spill

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--The Montara Oil Spill was one of Australia's worst spills. Oil and condensate started leaking from the Montara well on August 21, 2009; two months later, a fire started that burned for two days after the Thai state-owned operator PTTEP Australasia, a subsidiary of PTT Public Company Limited (SET:PTT) (Bangkok, Thailand), attempted to plug the well.

Now, nearly four years after the incident, the Montara Oil Field has resumed production, later than planned due to cyclone-related delays and equipment availability issues. "It is the culmination of hard work and attention to detail by our project team to deliver safe and clean production," chief executive Ken Fitzpatrick said as part of the announcement.

The Montara field development has been subject to a deed of agreement with the Australian federal government since 2011, following the 2009 Montara oil and gas leak, which was the first major loss of well control in 25 years of safe offshore petroleum operations in Australian waters. In response, the company developed the Montara Action Plan (MAP), which detailed the changes that had to occur for the company to meet the industry's best practice standards.

"Since the spill, the company had transformed its management culture, operational capabilities, and safety processes and environmental systems, which had been validated by five independent reviews commissioned by the Australian government over more than two years," Fitzpatrick said.

Federal Resources Minister Gary Gray has welcomed PTTEP's improvements, saying, "We need to make Australia's oil and gas exploration and production operations the best and safest in the world, and it is the collective responsibility of industry and government to make sure that we reach this goal."

The leak initially emanated from the Montara Wellhead platform, which was located in about 250 feet (76 meters) of water; the depth of the well was approximately 1.6 miles (3 kilometers) below the seabed. At its peak, the resulting oil slick was 106 miles (170 kilometers) long and covered an area of more than 2,300 square miles (6,000 square kilometers).

The leak was eventually stopped in November 2009, when a second well was drilled to intercept the leaking well. This "relief well" was used to pump about 3,400 barrels (540 square meters) of heavy mud into the leaking well, thereby stopping the leak. After that, the well was cemented to prevent further leaks.

As the spill originated directly from the oil well itself, officials have found it difficult to determine precisely its total size. Estimates range from about 4,000 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes.

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