The Woodside Energy-led North West Shelf (NWS) joint venture has placed orders for long-lead items related to the Greater Western Flank Phase 4 project off the coast of Western Australia.
This project will involve a five-well subsea tieback to the existing NWS offshore infrastructure, with a final investment decision (FID) expected later this year. The additional gas production from this phase aims to address a projected supply gap in the Western Australia market after 2028, as outlined in Woodside's first-quarter update.
In the Bass Strait, offshore southeast Australia, Woodside, in partnership with ExxonMobil, has approved investments in the Kipper 1B and Turrum Phase 3 projects. The Kipper 1B development will enhance gas production from the Kipper field through a new subsea well and upgrades to the West Tuna platform. Meanwhile, Turrum Phase 3 will involve a five-well infill drilling program in the Turrum and North Turrum fields, along with modifications to the Marlin B platform's topsides. Production is expected to begin in 2027.
In offshore Victoria, a mobile offshore drilling unit is stationed at the Minerva field, where work is underway to plug and abandon (P&A) the first of three Minerva wells. Decommissioning activities continue across other nearby fields, with 27 wells, including those on the Bream B platform, already having been plugged and abandoned.
Decommissioning has also started at the Kingfish A and Cobia platforms.
In Western Australia, the floating production unit (FPU) for the Scarborough gas-condensate project has been moved from its second dry dock, and the topsides are being loaded onto a transport barge in preparation for integration. At the project site, installation of subsea production risers is in progress, and pre-installation of the FPU mooring chains has been completed, along with batch drilling of intermediate sections of development wells.
Further north, efforts continue to refine the development plans for the offshore Browse to NWS project, with commercial talks ongoing regarding the processing of Browse gas at the Karratha Gas Plant.
