KrisEnergy suspends Wassana oil field, cuts quarter of Thai workforce

Singapore’s independent oil and gas company KrisEnergy has decided to suspend operations on the Wassana oil field and reduce its workforce in Thailand.

KrisEnergy said on Wednesday that production from the Wassana field was suspended until further notice. The company added that it had informed relevant authorities in Thailand of the suspension.

The oil and gas firm cited “many uncertainties ahead” as well as “the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, speed of global economic regeneration and recovery in petroleum demand, and the magnitude and sustainability of any upturn in oil prices” as its reasons for the field suspension.

Gross production at Wassana averaged 3,605 bopd in the first quarter of 2020 and the company’s working interest production was 3,208 bopd.

It holds an effective 89.0 per cent working interest in the G10/48 concession where the field is located, while Palang Sophon Offshore holds an effective 11 per cent working interest.

KrisEnergy said that the agreements concerning the FSO were terminated. The company is also in discussions regarding the warm-stacking of the MOPU with a skeleton crew and support from the Songkhla shore base.

The workforce will also take a hit as the company decided to reduce its workforce in Thailand by 25 per cent due to the Wassana suspension.

One positive thing from the statement is the fact that operations at KrisEnergy’s remaining producing assets – the B8/32 oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand and the Bangora gas field in Block 9 onshore Bangladesh – will continue as usual.

The field came onstream in August 2015 and comprises a mobile offshore production unit (MOPU), floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel, and a catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) buoy.

The processing facility for the project is the MOPU Ingenium, which separates the oil, water, and gas from the wells. The produced gas is reused as fuel for onboard generators, whereas the produced water is pumped back into the reservoir.

The FSO working on the field is the Rubicon Vantage which has an overall length of 228.6 metres, a total fluid storage capacity of 597,206 barrels, and accommodation for up to 40 people.