Woodside Energy Ltd., Perth, has submitted a plan to the Australian National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) for the decommissioning of Echo-Yodel gas/condensate field in production licences WA-1-L and WA-23-L on the North West Shelf about 140 km northwest of Dampier in Western Australia.
The plan involves the permanent plugging and abandonment of three wells – the Yodel-3 and Yodel-4 production wells and the nearby Capella-1 exploration well.
Echo-Yodel field was brought on stream in late 2001 and reached the end of its economic life in 2012 with Yodel-4 ceasing production in 2006 and Yodel-3 in 2012. Capella-1 had been left as a suspended gas discovery since it was drilled in 1996.
The decommissioning plan intends that Echo/Yodel subsea infrastructure be left in place so that it can continue to provide hard substrate to maintain marine growth and habitat. This includes the well Christmas trees, 23 km pipeline linking the wells to the Goodwyn A production platform, umbilical assemblies.
Woodside said the pipeline was cleaned and hydrocarbon freed in 2015/16 and put into a state of preservation. Well tie-in spools were also removed between the pipeline and the wells.
Capella-1, located 40 km northwest of the Yodel wells was not part of Echo/Yodel infrastructure and was suspended just after drilling with a shallow plug. The wellhead was left in place with the original intention of returning to run a drill stem test.
The decommissioning program is scheduled for the period between the beginning of 2021 and the end of 2023.
