Shell Todd Oil eyes additional recovery in Māui Field

Shell Todd Oil Services has put in an application for a jack-up rig for future drilling work at its Māui platforms, off the coast of New Plymouth.Shell Todd Oil Services was granted a marine consent in 2015 to cover its plans for activities at its Māui facilities. Its latest application for a jack-up rig also includes a marine discharge consent which, if approved, would set the conditions for the discharge of any harmful substances from the platform.Last week a gas flare on the Oaonui Production Station, which processes gas from the Maui field, caused alarm among local residents, who were later assured that it was a one-off event as part of a planned depressurisation process.This week's application will follow the publicly notified consent process. More information on the process and the statutory timeframes is available here.About the Maui gas fieldThe Maui gas field was discovered in 1969 and was considered a monster field for its time. A joint venture consisting of Shell, BP and Todd Petroleum was responsible for the discovery and development.Full production from Maui A began in 1979, with 14 wells drilled from the platform in a water depth of 110m (a deep water platform for its time).Maui B was installed in 1992 to allow full drainage of hydrocarbons from the southern part of the field.In 2001, Shell bought Fletcher Challenge Energy and farmed out 10% of Maui to OMV New Zealand Ltd. Todd has a 6.25% interest in the field.