ExxonMobil under investigation in Australia following ruptured gas pipeline

Apr 10, 2024 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

Kaieteur News – The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema), the environmental regulator in Australia, is currently investigating a potential spill from ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso.

The Guardian reported that the regulator confirmed it received a notification about a potential spill on April 6, 2024, following a visible “sheen” on the ocean’s surface off the Victorian coast where the oil company operates an undersea gas pipeline.

It is believed the rupture originates with a pipeline connecting the West Kingfish platform to the Kingfish A platform.

A Nopsema spokesperson said the pipeline was “reported to contain 95% water at the time” but has since been “isolated at both facility ends and is being depressurised”.

“The facility has been offline for four weeks and continues to be so,” they said. “An investigation has been launched and Nopsema is content Esso is currently managing the incident appropriately.”

The regulator did not clarify what remaining material the pipeline was carrying or what may have been dissolved in the water.

“As the investigation is ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment more at this stage,” the spokesperson said.

ExxonMobil Australia was contacted for a comment.

The gas platforms in the area are among the oldest offshore oil and gas operations in the country, with West Kingfish in the early stages of decommissioning.

News of the rupture has prompted calls for more stringent regulations and transparency from the regulator and operators, particularly when it comes to decommissioning old oil and gas infrastructure.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said he had serious concerns about the rupture, particularly as Esso is applying to set up a carbon, capture and storage (CCS) operation in the area to inject waste CO2 into the Gippsland Basin, beneath the ocean’s surface.

“Nopsema is supposed to have oversight and regulate the environmental management of the offshore fossil fuel industry, but coastal communities are fast losing confidence in the ‘independent’ regulator, which has become more of an enabler than an investigator of offshore oil and gas projects,” he said.

“If Esso cannot manage to decommission rig infrastructure safely I highly doubt it’s capable of carrying out risky carbon capture and storage it has planned for the region.”

The Australian Workers Union warned in September 2022 that the company was “cutting corners” in how it was planning to deal with the infrastructure during the decommissioning process.

Louise Morris, offshore oil and gas campaign manager with the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said the organisation is seeking a full investigation of the incident.

“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,” Morris said. “It is another example of why the offshore regulator Nopsema needs to be stronger in their regulatory oversight and transparency.”

Presently, ExxonMobil is constructing a 225 kilometers offshore/ onshore pipeline that will transport natural gas from the Liza Fields in the Stabroek Block to the Wales Development site to be monetized by the government. Guyana hopes to generate some 300 megawatts of electricity using gas and plans to market 4,000 barrels of propane, butane and pentane that will be generated each day.

Head of the Gas-to-Energy (GTE) Project, Winston Brassington had said that Guyana will be getting some 50 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) as assured by its contractor, ExxonMobil Guyana. This will amount to 63 million barrels of liquids per annum, he said.

Brassington also pointed out that the 50 MMCFD is only 40 percent of the pipeline’s capability, as the infrastructure will be able to transport over 120 MMCFD.

Notably, despite the risks associated with the project, the government and Exxon has been dodging the question of insurance and compensation in the event of gas leaks and possible explosions.

The pipeline passes through a number of residential communities, farmlands, waterways and roadways in proximity to public facilities such as schools and businesses. ExxonMobil is expected to complete the construction activities by the end of 2024; however, the structure will only become operational after the GoG completes the Natural Gas Liquids ((NGL) facility and the power plant.