Regulator tells Woodside to stop work

The national petroleum safety regulator has issued a prohibition notice to Woodside Energy following a fire at its processing facility last week in the Vincent oil field.

The announcement is below:

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) has issued a Prohibition Notice to Woodside Energy Ltd, the operator of the Ngujima-Yin Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel.

The Ngujima-Yin is located at the Vincent oil field in Commonwealth waters in the Exmouth Sub-basin, 43 km north of the North West Cape and 10km north-east of the Enfield oil accumulation.

The Notice, which prohibits the re-start of petroleum production at the facility, has been issued after a fire caused extensive damage to the high pressure gas compression process module and may have also affected other safety critical plant or systems of the facility.

The Prohibition Notice will remain in force until NOPSA is satisfied that plant or systems damaged by the fire are fit for service and do not pose a risk to safe operations.

The fire, which is thought to have started at a Gas Turbine Compressor, occurred on April 13 on board the Ngujima-Yin and is being investigated by NOPSA inspectors.

NOPSA is the occupational health and safety regulator for the Australian offshore petroleum industry.

NOPSA aims to achieve the outcome of an Australian oil and gas industry that properly controls the health and safety risks to its workforce at its offshore petroleum operations.