The Minerva Development produces hydrocarbon gas and liquids from the Minerva gas field with production commencing in 2005 with production expected to continue to decline with end of field life predicted around 2020 with cessation activities to commence thereafter.
The Minerva field is situated within production licence VIC-L22 and pipeline in Commonwealth waters VIC-PL33 located in the Otway Basin in 60 m of water approximately 11 km southwest of Port Campbell, Victoria.
The Minerva field produce hydrocarbon gas and liquids from the Minerva reservoir via two subsea vertical wells. The hydrocarbon gas and liquids are then transported onshore to the Minerva Gas Plant via a common pipeline for processing.
Operations in the offshore area include periodic routine inspection, maintenance and repair of subsea flowlines, wellheads, manifolds, subsea trees and the pipeline.
The cessation phase is expected to commence within 18 months of production cessation, with the flushing of the flowline and cutting and plugging expected to take approximately 1 month. During the cessation phase a number of monitoring activities may be undertaken in preparation for the final decommissioning of the field.