ExxonMobil Australia has issued a decommissioning update charting the activities of the Valaris 107 jack-up rig in the Bass Strait.
In a 30 January update on its LinkedIn social media page, Richard Perry, Project Manager, called the rig “one of the hardest working mobile offshore assets currently active in Bass Strait.”
Esso Australia’s Bass Strait decommissioning team reached several major milestones in 2025, the post noted, including investing nearly $3bn in early decommissioning works, safely sealing more than 200 wells in the Bass Strait, and removing and recycling over 10,000 tonnes of steel.
“A key enabler of this progress is the heavy duty Valaris 107 jack-up rig, which has been supporting activities across our operations since the end of 2024,” said Perry.
A jack-up rig is a mobile offshore platform with a floating hull and long, extendable legs that can be lowered to the seabed, lifting the entire platform above the waves to create a stable base for drilling or decommissioning wells or other underwater works.
To date, the Valaris 107 has safely sealed 26 wells across eight former oil and gas production facilities, Perry added.
He described the delivery of a campaign of such size and complexity on a single rig as a “remarkable achievement” and a “clear demonstration of the scale, ambition, and progress of Esso’s multi-year decommissioning programme in [the] Bass Strait, the largest of its kind in Australia.”
In addition to carrying out decommissioning work, the Valaris 107 is also supporting Esso Australia’s investment to deliver more gas to Australia.
Last year the rig drilled and installed the new Kipper 1b well, which started producing gas for Australian households and businesses near the end of 2025.
Its next task will be to start drilling wells for the Turrum Phase 3 project.
This $350mn project involves drilling five new wells in the Turrum and North Turrum gas fields to access currently undeveloped gas resources.
Turrum Phase 3 will be one of the largest gas developments on the east coast this decade and continues Esso Australia’s long history of reliably supplying gas to the domestic market for over 50 years, Perry noted.
Turrum is expected to come online before winter in 2027.
“As we continue our decommissioning journey, we remain focused on safety, environmental responsibility, and supporting local employment,” he added.
“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far—and even more excited about what’s to come.”
