Santos Ltd. has awarded the front-end engineering and design contract for the design, construction and installation of the wellhead platform for Dorado field in the Bedout subbasin offshore Western Australia to Sapura Energy Bhd.
The platform will be unmanned in 90 m of water and is designed to host the development and reinjection wells for the field. There will be minimal processing infrastructure and it will be remotely operated from the floating production, storage, and offtake vessel moored about 2 km away.
The FEED contract for the FPSO was awarded to Altera Infrastructure Production AS days earlier (OGJ Online, Aug. 23, 2021).
The platform design will allow for the integrated development of both the gas and liquids resource at Dorado as well as retaining sufficient flexibility to support future exploration success in the surrounding permits, the company said. Nearby Pavo and Apus prospects are expected to be drilled early 2022.
The wellhead platform is the final significant commitment in the progression towards a final investment decision for Dorado development about the middle of 2022.
Santos is operator of the field with 80% interest. Carnarvon Petroleum Ltd. holds the remaining 20%.
