The Shell-operated Crux development is located in Commonwealth waters in the northern Browse Basin, 190 kilometers (km) offshore north-west Australia and 620 km north-east of Broome, in approximately 165 meters (m) water depth.
The Crux gas field has been identified as a source of backfill gas to the existing Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) facility.
The project is being progressed by the Crux Joint Venture with Shell Australia as majority operator and encompasses the Production Licence AC/L10.
The first environmental approval for Crux was the Crux Offshore Project Proposal (OPP), which was accepted in August 2020 by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).
This Environment Plan (EP) covers a discrete scope of work associated within the installation of the Crux drilling template. The drilling template is a prefabricated steel structure with a seabed footprint of approximately 266 m3, which will be lowered on to the seabed by a light construction vessel. The purpose of the drilling template is to act as a guide for the subsequent Crux development drilling campaign (this campaign is covered by a separate EP, the Crux Development Drilling EP).
This EP covers the following activities within the Operational Area located within the petroleum title AC/L10:
• Vessel based installation of the drilling template and associated activities within the Operational Area.
• Operation of Remote Operated Vehicles to aid the drilling template installation and positioning on the seabed.
The drilling template installation is currently proposed to occur between 1 September 2023 and 1 April 2024. The drilling template installation campaign is nominally scheduled to occur over a one month period subject to acceptable weather and subsurface conditions. Once the drilling template installation activities commence, complete installation of the drilling template should take approximately 24 hours.
To account for potential shifts in schedule, the environmental assessment is not seasonally specific and assumes the activities described in this EP may occur at any time during the life of the EP.
To ensure the drilling template structure has an in-force EP for the activity beyond the installation campaign, the current Crux Development Drilling EP (which includes a five-year duration) will retain the installation, inspection, and maintenance of the drilling template as part of its activity description. A regulation 25A notification for the Crux Drilling Template Installation EP will be submitted upon acceptance of the Crux Development Drilling EP.
