ExxonMobil under investigation over gas pipeline rupture in the Bass Strait
ExxonMobil notified the regulator on Saturday about a breakage in a pipeline connected to the company’s Kingfish A platform in the Gippsland Basin, Bass Strait.
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Energy giant ExxonMobil is under investigation from the offshore regulator after a “sheen” was detected in the Bass Strait from a ruptured gas pipeline.
Exxon notified the regulator on April 6 over the incident linked to a pipeline connected to the company’s Kingfish A platform in the Gippsland Basin between Victoria and Tasmania.
“The pipeline, which was reported to contain 95 per cent water at the time, has been isolated at both facility ends and is being depressurised. The facility has been offline for four weeks and continues to be so,” the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority said in a statement.
“An investigation has been launched and NOPSEMA is content Esso is currently managing the incident appropriately. As the investigation is ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment more at this stage.”
The Australian Marine Conservation Society said it was worried about the broader issue of decommissioning old oil and gas platforms in the region this decade.
“This rupture of a gas pipeline run by Esso is part of a vast network of dangerous, ageing and rusting offshore gas rigs in our oceans all overdue for shutting down. It is another example of why the offshore regulator NOPSEMA needs to be stronger in their regulatory oversight and transparency,” said Louise Morris, offshore oil and gas campaign manager at the green group.
Australia’s offshore oil and gas regulator is set for a major test as ExxonMobil prepares for the complicated task of dismantling nearly a dozen ageing oil and gas platforms in the Bass Strait.
ExxonMobil, one of the owners of the Gippsland Basin joint venture Esso Australia, has argued that because some of the platforms are as much as 60 years old, they have become part of the marine environment.
Work to decommission infrastructure when projects finish production could be worth up to $60bn over the next 30 to 50 years.
Exxon has already said that the full removal of its offshore rigs may not be possible.
Originally published as ExxonMobil under investigation over gas pipeline rupture in the Bass Strait
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