Kato Energy has submitted a proposal to develop the Amulet and Talisman fields, offshore Australia, to Australia's National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), for public comment.
KATO Energy plans to develop the Amulet and Talisman fields using a relocatable system known as the ‘honeybee production system’. The honeybee production system has been used successfully in many locations around the world, including offshore WA. The ‘honeybee production system’ comprises the following key elements:
- jack-up mobile offshore production unit (MOPU).
- production unit on the MOPU, which will separate and process oil, gas and water.
- wells workover module on the MOPU, which will have the capability to plug and abandon wells, and potentially to drill; however, a separate mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) may be used.
- short flowline and riser from the MOPU to a catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) buoy.
- floating marine hose to transport oil.
- moored floating storage and offloading (FSO) facility, where oil is stored; or direct to shuttle tankers (depending on export option selected).
- floating export hose to offload oil from the FSO to export tankers.
The key components covered in this Offshore Project Proposal (OPP) for the Amulet Development are:
- site survey of the proposed location of subsea infrastructure
- drilling of up to two production wells, one dual-purpose production/water injection well, and allowance for a sidetrack
- installation, hook-up and commissioning of a mobile offshore processing unit (MOPU), catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) buoy and mooring arrangements, flowline and riser, and a floating storage and offloading (FSO) facility
operation of the facilities
- decommissioning and removal of subsea and surface infrastructure, and plug and abandonment (P&A) of the wells.
If the Talisman oil field is developed, up to two production wells will be drilled with allowance for a sidetrack. The preferred field development option is to drill extended reach deviated wells through the conductor deck of the MOPU, whilst at the Amulet location. However, if a subsea tieback system option is selected, the following additional components will be incorporated specifically for the development of the Talisman field:
- Talisman subsea trees (production wells) and jumpers to the manifold
- Talisman manifold, to commingle production from nearby Talisman wells
- ~3.5 km production flowline and service umbilical from the Talisman manifold to the MOPU at Amulet.
The proposed location of the MOPU is optimised for the primary target oil field, Amulet. Amulet is a discovered field, not yet produced. The Talisman field is ~4km to the west of the Amulet field, in WA-8-L. The field has been produced, but in 1992 production was shut-in, and the field has since been abandoned. Due to its proximity to the Amulet field, KATO may choose to reinstate production from the Talisman field.
Amulet and Talisman fields are part of a portfolio of KATO operated fields. The intent is that as each field is depleted, it is fully decommissioned, and the honeybee production system is then relocated to the next field.
The conservative project life for the Amulet Development (from mobilisation to decommissioning) is approx. five years.
KATO is an Australian company that was formed to combine 100% ownership of the Amulet and Amulet oil discoveries, and other fields, via wholly owned subsidiaries.The shareholders of KATO are Tamarind Australia, Aviemore Capital and Wisdom Frontier.
