Striking Oil--Maui Production Station (Oaonui) Traditional Cache
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Striking Oil--Maui Production Station (Oaonui)
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Size: 
(small)
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A cache near to the Maui Onshore Production Station
There is no danger to cachers, but there are a series of warning sirens in the event of a major disaster. Exercise care at all times. This should be an easy drive-by.
The Maui field is located 33 kms off the Taranaki coastline. The field comprises two production platforms, Maui A and Maui B and, until April 2006, the FPSO(Floating Production Storage and Offloading) vessel Whakaaropai.
The Maui gas field was discovered in 1969 and was considered a monster field for its time. A joint venture consisting of Shell, BP and Todd Petroleum was responsible for the find.
Due to the size and cost of the development, government investment was sought which resulted in a government entity (later PetroCorp) taking a 50% interest in the project. Fletcher Challenge Energy later purchased this entity from the government.
Full production from Maui A began in 1979, with 14 wells drilled from the platform in a water depth of 110m (a deep water platform for its time).
Maui B was installed in 1992 to allow full drainage of hydrocarbons from the field and later to allow production of oil from the deeper reservoirs. The final phases consisted of installation of the Whakaaropai FPSO in 1996 and onshore naphtha refining plant in 1999.
In 2001, Shell bought Fletcher Challenge Energy and farmed out 10% of Maui to OMV New Zealand Ltd. Todd has a 6.25% interest in the field.
The field facilities are effectively split in five areas. These consist of:
The Maui A platform which sits in 110 meters of water 35 kms off the Taranaki coast. Subsea condensate and gas pipelines connect Maui A to the shore based processing plant at Oaonui, where gas and condensate are processed after having gone through cooling and water separation plants on Maui A.
Maui Production Station onshore at Oaonui, where processing and treatment of gas occurs to bring it to pipeline specifications. Condensate is also treated while LPG's and associated gases are removed for further processing and sale. A naphtha plant also operates to remove the naphtha component from condensate for sale in Asia. The cache is proximal to this facility
The Maui B platform situated 15 km from the Maui. A platform, in similar water depth. This platform is designed to be unmanned and remotely operated from Maui A. Maui B was originally installed to allow full drainage of hydrocarbons from the field, however has since proved invaluable in the recovery of oil from the deeper reservoirs underneath Maui B. Maui B is connected to Maui A via an undersea pipeline through which gas and condensate are transported to Maui A for initial processing. Oil is fed directly to the FPSO Whakaaropai for storage and processing. A total of 10 wells have been drilled on Maui B.
Paritutu Tank Farm is located at the port of New Plymouth. Processed condensate and associated products are stored here before shipping overseas or to the refinery at Marsden Point.
The Whakaaropai FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) vessel was moored 2 kms from the Maui B platform and linked to the platform by an oil pipeline and a gas export return pipeline. It was released in mid 2006, sold and is no longer in service.
Recent Field Production Volumes
Liquid & Condensate: 4.24 mmbls
Gas: 88.3 bscf
LPG: 0.9 mmbbls
Total: 14.7 mmboe
Field cumulative production to date
Oil & Condensate: 146.6 MMbbls
Gas: 3008 Bscf
LPG: 19.8 mmbbls
Total: 667.7 mmboe
Production Wells: Maui A -Gas: 14, Maui B Gas: 5 Oil: 5
At the Maui production station at Oaonui in South Taranaki, the visitors centre is open to the public daily. No prior arrangements are necessary to make a visit.
Admission is free and the centre offers visitors informative, interactive, and engaging displays for education and enjoyment. This will help you with the Earthcache, "Natural Gas Naturally".
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ng gur raq bs n ebj bs Ntncnaguhf naq srapryvar, ba gur unvecva oraq jryy fbhgu bs gur Uryvpbcgre cnq
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